Untouchables
by Mondie
Summary: )(YES, I UPDATED!)( Newsies present-time fic. The guys are all members of The Crimson Gang, led by Spot Conlon, and Untouchable... until two girls upset the balance.
1. A real Apollo

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 1**

            The last bell before lunch sounded, and Nikita thankfully snapped her binder shut. She snatched up her bookbag and headed for the classroom door with quick, sure strides.

            "Hey!" one of her good friends, Gabrielle, yelled after her. "Where's the fire?"

            Nikita's best friend, Kat, shrugged, then quickly hurried out of the classroom too. She knocked into a few people, muttering sorries as she tried to catch up with her best friend.

            She finally found Nikita perched on a ledge overlooking the senior hall. "There he is," Nikita whispered, knowing it was Kat without looking back. "Isn't he a god?"

            Kat rolled her eyes. "Sure, Nikita. A real Apollo, that boy."

            Nikita chose to ignore the sarcasm in Kat's voice and instead focused on her crush. "God, he's perfect."

            "So first he's a god and now you're complimenting a single God for making him?" Kat wondered.

            Nikita rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Kat, and just be happy to bestow your eyes on that wonder." She let a sigh escape her lips.

            Walking confidently through the hall, his head thrown back and chest stuck out, was the most respected senior to ever set foot in Gato Verde High School. He always wore black. That day, he was wearing a tight black t-shirt and baggy black jeans. The only color in his outfit was the crimson armband tied tightly around his left bicep.

            "Hi, Spot," said a giggly girl who had positioned herself directly beside his locker. He merely glanced at her, then turned back to twirling his combination on the lock. He swung the door open and pulled out a sack lunch, then continued on his trek down the hallway, slamming the locker behind him. The girl sighed dramatically and fanned herself with her hands.

            "Pathetic," muttered Nikita. Spot Conlon was almost to them, and she jumped off the ledge, landing next to Kat. Nikita fluffed up her light brown hair and readjusted her lavender tank top. Spot was avoiding eye contact with everyone in the hallway, though the stares following him would've driven any reasonable person mad. He came closer and closer, until mere inches from Nikita.

            "Hi, Spot!" she said brightly, falling into step beside him.

            Or at least she tried to.

            Her voice squeaked, coming out like she was a guest voice on _Alvin and the Chipmunks. Then someone from behind jostled Kat, pushing her forward so that she hit Nikita. Kat caught her balance, but Nikita toppled right over in her platform Skechers._

            Spot stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at Nikita, who was blushing as furiously as possible while trying to get herself up off the ground without flashing everyone, since she had worn her new cute jean miniskirt that day. Humor seeped into his eyes, and he gave a snort of laughter before heading back out on his parade. Kat, trying to salvage her friend's pride, helped Nikita to her feet.

            "I'm so sorry!" the person who had knocked into Kat apologized, bending to pick up her books.

            "Oh, don't worry about it," she answered, turning to smile. Her smile got caught and instead she wore a half-grimace as she set her eyes on Swifty Stea. One of the cutest boys in school.

            Swifty wore a pair of cut-up, slightly loose jeans and a Jimmy Eat World t-shirt. Tied around the left sleeve of the brownish shirt was the deep red-colored armband which matched Spot's. He flashed her his beautiful smile and then handed her the books. "See ya around, Kat." He turned and followed Spot. She hadn't known that he knew her name….

            Disappointed and having not even noticed Kat's brush with Swifty, Nikita was swearing to herself as she dusted off her outfit. "C'mon, let's go to lunch," she growled, turning on her heel and stomping off in the direction Spot and Swifty had gone, to the courtyard.

            "The Crimson Gang." Nikita sighed as she watched the seventeen senior boys cross the Quad and, goofing around and joking, sit in the middle of it. The Quad was sacred ground at Gato Verde High. For years it had stood abandoned, no one ever feeling the need to sit there or even walk across it. Then Spot Conlon organized his Crimson Gang, and they had claimed it. Now it was forbidden for anyone sans crimson armband to so much as breathe on the patch of cement.

            "Forget about it, Nikita," Kat told her, looking over at them too. "They're untouchables."

            "So what's wrong with a little crush?" Nikita responded innocently, never taking her eyes of Spot.

            "Because _he's not just a __member of the Crimson Gang," Kat reminded her. "He's the __leader. The most untouchable of them all."_

            The two fell silent and watched them. The only thing they all seemed to have in common was the crimson armband, proudly displayed on the left bicep. That, and there was the fact that each of them was the best at whatever he chose to do.

            Spot's mere presence, mere _name caused even the most lion-hearted to tremble, and he was known throughout the city for his fighting. Cowboy, the second-in-command, was the best artist in a tri-county area. Mush was the swim-team captain and the school's ladies' man, for he was often seen serenading whatever eligible girl he decided he liked with early Elton John or Elvis songs. Swifty had broken almost every one of the school's cross country and track records, and was also the star center on the basketball team. Bumlets was known far and wide for his gymnastics skills, and had been named the MVP of the gymnastics team every year in high school so far. Kid Blink was a poet whose works had been published in "Teen People" magazine and also __Chicken Soup For The Teenage Soul. Specs ran the A/V club and nearly always got the lead part in the spring musical. Crutchy was the teacher's pet, brown-nosing his way into conversations he probably should not have heard; therefore, he knew more about everyone in the school than anyone else, even more than the school nurse. Dutchy, known for his beautiful piano-, tuba-, and cello-playing, nearly directed the school band. Racetrack was the class clown, and he was known and liked by virtually everyone for his incredible talent at turning a classroom upside down. Davey was a bonafide genius, the senior class president, and a shoo-in for valedictorian. Skittery was the most crucial member of the debate team. Jake was a sheep farmer, and he always took the blue ribbon at 4-H competitions and shows. Snitch was an incredible bowler, who always bowled strikes. It wasn't anything rare for him to have a perfect game; it was more rare for him to get anything __under 300. Itey, who shone on the golf team, had never once gone over par. Pie Eater was the school's huge football star; the only freshman to make the varsity team, and every year with him on the team they'd gone to state and won. Yet the most recognizable, after Spot, of course, was Snoddy, who was a school and town celebrity: a model for Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle._

            Nikita looked around the courtyard, which was milling with students. Some bought food from the vendors, others had packed. Reaching back into her backpack, she pulled out a Diet Pepsi and grinned, bringing the plastic bottle to her lips. After taking a swig, she re-capped it and threw it back in her bag. "Follow me, Kat."

            "Where are we going?" Kat said, obediently falling into step.

            A few people watched interestedly as Nikita led Kat straight to the edge of the Quad. Then she plopped down on the grass and leaned forward so that her shadow almost—but not quite—graced the cement. Spot looked over from where he sat and scowled in annoyance.

            At that moment, though, Cowboy, for no explainable reason, stood up and yelled "YEE-HAW!" A few of his admirers looked over and grinned. Spot turned to look at Cowboy to figure out what was going on.

            Nikita used the split second to her advantage. As soon as Spot's head was turned, she stretched out one of her legs and set down one sneakered foot onto the smooth cement.

            Instantly the constant buzz which normally droned at lunchtime was silenced. Everyone who wasn't on the Quad stared at Nikita, disbelieving. It took a moment longer for the Crimson Gang to notice what was going on. She still sat cutely in the grass, one foot on the Quad, as if unaware. She crossed the other leg over it, and jauntily bounced her foot in the air.

            "Nikita… what are you doing?" Kat whispered.

            Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant black figure stood in front of her. Nikita looked up and up, before finally meeting herself in a full-out gaze from Spot Conlon.

            _Hmmm… I never thought his eyes would be so dreamy close up, she thought. __Or, for that matter, so scorchingly mad…_

            "What do you think you're doing?" Spot asked, trying to remain calm as he stared at her foot.

            "Sitting," Nikita answered, trying to sound carefree and cute, though she hadn't counted on Spot's eyes being so hate-filled.

            "Go sit someplace else." Spot was so angry, drops of spit were raining down on Nikita.

            "It's a free country, isn't it?" Nikita said cheerfully back. She squinted up at him, keeping a pixie smile across her face.

            "Not here, it isn't," Spot answered, then leaned down and picked her up in his arms.

            Nikita giggled. "Oooh, Spot, I didn't know you cared!" she said, about to throw her arms around his neck.

            She wasn't given the chance. Half a second later, she found herself sprawled, a jumble of arms and legs, three feet away from the Quad. Spot hadn't moved from his place. "Never, you hear?" he said threateningly, as much to everyone else in the courtyard as to Nikita.

            Kat once again helped Nikita to her feet. "C'mon," she said in a low voice, and the girls ran across the courtyard, among snickers, to the school. Kat helped Nikita wash up in the bathroom, scrubbing at the grass stains.

            "Well. That went better than I thought it would!" Nikita smiled.

            Kat stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

            Nikita dreamily gazed at her reflection in the mirror. "Well, Spot Conlon obviously knows who I am now."

            "I'm not so sure that's a _good thing," Kat said grimly. "Now c'mon, the bell is gonna ring any moment now." She threw the wet paper towels into a trash can and the girls headed out into the halls._


	2. I was EATING that

**A/N: I forgot to put a disclaimer on the first chappy. Whoops!! So here it is: DISNEY: DON'T SUE ME! Every single friggin member of the Crimson Gang belongs to them. But Swifty's Jimmy Eat World t-shirt belongs to Jimmy Eat World. Heh.**

Shoutouts… Wow, you guys! Fifteen reviews! I am astounded. Yikes! I nearly did cartwheels! Gemini Kelly – Don't do anything drastic now, I'm continuing it! LOL. Thanks for the #1 review! 

**Aki **– Hey goilie, your character is coming up soon! Wahoo!

**Peg **– You're coming up soon too! Thanks for the review!

**kimimay85** – Hey goilie, sure, that can be you. LOL I don't think that she'll have any part further in the story, but if she does, you'll be the first to know. ;D Let me know what you think of the ending of this chappy! ((Sidenote: WAHOO! Timmy died on _Passions_! I hated him!)) ((Sidenote after you called me after the eppy was over… I DIDN'T WANT THE ACTOR WHO PLAYED TIMMY TO DIE! JUST THE CHARACTER TIMMY! Oh no!!! That's sad…))

**Gypsy **– THANKS goil!! Three reviews from you alone. I love your story, and hopefully I'll read a bunch of it today. And yes, I'm glad you at least caught the name of the high school… I was wondering someone would. I was eating Salsa Verde Doritos and I couldn't think of a name for the HS and that's where I got Verde… then I just wanted something Spanish and Gato was just about the only other Spanish word I knew… LOL.

**Morning Dew** – Hey, t'anks! I'll come review one of your stories asap. Here's a weird bit of info: I actually HAD a character in my last story, Ocean Eyes, whose name was Morning Dew… then I logged on and found that it was YOUR name, so I changed it to Kiss. Weird, huh? I just got on ff.net and saw you on the front page for one of your stories, stared at the screen for a while in shock, then changed my story. hehe!

**Moody** – Hey goilie! I just emailed you back. Thanks for the review, and for putting me in your story. Work on those run-on sentences! ;D LOL. And there's LOTS more Snodds in this chappy.

**Tuffy** – Thanks!!! :D

**Dragonfly** – Your part will be coming soon, too. :D Thanks for coming to review hun!

**Lucky** – They ~are~ heartthrobs, aren't they?! :D Thanks for the review!

**Holly Rachael Zintel** – IF YOU DON'T UPLOAD YOUR HP STORIES SOON, I WILL NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN!!! That said, thank you. **Mondie smiles prettily**

**Holiday** – Thanks dearie! I'm posting more now! **Mush smacks Mondie as if to say DUH**

AND… **Blinks-Tiger** – I've missed you Tiger!!! Where ya been, kid? Thanks for coming to review!!! Erm… and sorry, but Nikki gets Blink in the story… I held a casting call on the NML, and she got Blink. But if you keep reviewing, I'll write a Blink story JUST for you! **Mondie laughs as every screams BLACKMAIL!**

All righty, so here's the story! Don't forget to leave me a review on whatcha think. :D

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 2**

            Nikita and Kat headed to their lockers, grabbed out their afternoon books, and headed to French 4. There were only two girls sitting in the classroom when they arrived, and the two were chatting between themselves in disbelieving tones. Becca looked up first.

            "Nikita!" she said, waving her arms around blindly and nearly hitting Gabrielle, the other girl, several times. "What the hell kinda stunt was that today at lunch? Spot Conlon could rearrange your face for doing less!" She shoved her brown hair impatiently from her face, exposing her beautiful, expression-filled brown eyes, which locked onto Nikita's exquisite violet ones.

            "Jesus, Becca!" said Nikita, her face breaking into a smile. "It was just a gag."

            Becca quieted down as other students began to file into the classroom. She couldn't resist adding, though, "Yeah, a gag to get you killed."

            Kerrie, an outspoken girl who had just transferred that year and no one was quite sure of yet, loudly voiced, "What a great spectacle we got to witness at lunch today!"

            Nikita scowled at her, but didn't say anything. Kerrie giggled to herself as she went to her desk, her shoulder-length red hair swishing as she did so. She was generally nice, but there was just something about Nikita that bothered her. And as one of the two Crimson Gang members who were in this French 4 class entered the room, she suddenly remembered what it was.

            Snoddy Feeney, the most good-looking boy she'd ever laid eyes on, took the seat closest to the door and slouched down in it, his perfect pout playing on his lips. Then he casually twisted so that his view was on one girl and one girl only.

            Kerrie bitterly bit on her lower lip as she watched Snoddy, watching Nikita.

            She inwardly sighed as she looked around the room. No one in here invited her to parties. No one even offered her a smile as she came in. In fact, no one in this whole school did. Her heart turned achingly as she thought of her old school, where she had been one of the most popular girls. In this school, she doubted anyone knew her name.

            How odd that she had taken the time and knew all of _theirs…_

            The French 4 class was filled up with seniors, obviously, and most of them girls. Of the twenty-one students, nineteen were female. The guys' names were Snoddy and Mush. The latter had just slunk in the door and taken his seat behind Snoddy, and the two males were talking in low tones to each other. Snoddy felt Kerrie's eyes on him and looked over sharply. Embarrassed, she dropped the gaze, and instead looked over at all the female students.

            Of course, there was Nikita. Famed for her violet eyes and loud demeanor, she was a legend on campus. Her best friend was Kat, who was introverted and kept to herself. Kat was extremely beautiful, and had she been more outgoing, she would've been nominated as a homecoming queen or something, Kerrie noted. She looked at Kat's long hair, trying to decide whether the color was light brown or red… she too had interesting eyes: ice-blue. If the right light hit them, they shone silver.

            There was also Gabrielle, who was shy and quiet, and, though Kerrie had met her the first day she'd moved into town (they were neighbors), Kerrie still wasn't sure of her disposition yet. She had long, wavy, dark blonde hair and bright blue eyes, which were usually trained downward unless she was speaking directly to someone. Gabriel had a name almost exactly like Gabrielle's, but the two girls couldn't have been more different: Gabriel was loud, outspoken, and usually got her way. Kerrie had heard one freshman boy tell his friends that Gabriel was a "compelling, exotic beauty," and she had to agree it fit the girl completely: she had long, straight light brown hair, and her eyes were almost black, with a ring of purple around them. Just looking into those eyes could shock a daydreamer back to reality.

            Nikki was a nice person, and one of the few people that Kerrie felt could be a future friend. She had brown hair, brown eyes, was medium height, and had braces. One of the distinguishing marks on her was a small scar on the top left corner of her face. It interested Kerrie, as most scars did… she wondered where Nikki had gotten it from. Becca looked much the same as Nikki, but was better friends with Nikita and Kat, and didn't mind telling them exactly what she thought of them. This was something which inwardly made Kerrie laugh much of the time. Becca definitely wasn't shy, especially around her friends, and it was a well-known fact around school that she had a crush on Racetrack, a member of the Crimson Gang, though she'd never admit it out loud. Vivien was another of the girls Kerrie felt a connection to for some undecided reason. Vivien had dark, wavy hair, and brown eyes. She was shy and was often seen hanging with many of the girls in this class, and when she was around them, she was loud and made a complete transformation. And then there was Erica, Margaret, Adrienne, Jess, Ana, Marissa, Melody, Nina, Natasha, Danielle, and Jaclyn… ((A/N: Sorry goilies, you'll each get introduced in due time! I just didn't want to bombard everyone right away.))

            Kerrie's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing bell. The teacher, Mme Durouge, stepped in the door. "_Bonjour, mes eleves_," she said, with a tight smile. She was a severe-looking teacher, with her brassy blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun and horn-rimmed spectacles resting on the bridge of her nose.

            "_Bonjour, Madame_," the class answered in monotone.

            "_Aujourd'hui, nous sommes commencer translater _Les Miserables…"

            Nikita squinted at the teacher as she continued to drone on, and wordlessly she dropped her head onto her arms. Every year, she asked herself _why she signed up for French again. Every year, she couldn't remember what she'd been thinking on registration day except that usually she slept through that, too, and had Kat fill out her registration._

            She felt a poke on her arm from a pencil eraser. Confused, she looked over. There sat that one grinning model boy from the Crimson Gang. She couldn't exactly remember his name, but she did remember that he'd been in her American Eagle catalog the week before, and suddenly the page had been ripped out of several other catalogs and placed in nearly every girl's locker in the school.

            He was bent over his notebook, and she was figuring she'd just imagined it all, and was about to go back to sleep, when he turned to her with a grin. He held his notebook up at a slight angle to show her what he'd written.

            _She was saying that today, we're going to begin translating the book Les Miserables__. I've got this friend, Davey, who's incredibly good at French … he's in a class all by himself, studying college-senior-level French earlier in the day. I'm sure he can help you if you'd like. There's no way I'd pass French without him. Maybe you can come to one of our tutoring sessions. -Snoddy_

            Snoddy! That was it. She raised her eyebrows at him mysteriously, then winked. She wondered what in Sam's hill he'd picked the nickname Snoddy for. It was common knowledge that all of the guys in the Crimson Gang had picked ridiculous nicknames for each other (other than Davey… he was just Davey), but what possibly could have inspired SNODDY?!

            "Nikita." She turned and looked into the face of Mme Durouge, who was standing there holding several copies of a thick book. She saw that it was _Les Miserables. She took the stack and left one on her desk, passing the others to Kat, who sat behind her._

            She pulled from her backpack her Diet Pepsi and her French dictionary. She snuck a drink from her pop (drinks weren't allowed at GVHS) and then stuffed it back into her backpack. Then she opened her book of _Les Miserables and pretended to start reading._

            Mush wouldn't let himself be out-romanced by Snoddy. He tapped Nikita in the back too and passed her a note.

            _Je t'aime, cherie._

            For a moment, Nikita stared at it, then she hurried to look up the verb "aimer". _To like … to love. The note made her giggle, and she turned and blew a kiss to Mush. Two boys in one day, and both of them friends of Spot's… Okay, so one was a pretty-boy model, and one was the biggest pimp in school, but still. Two boys during the course of one class period was nothing to be scoffed at._

            While turning back around in her seat, she saw that Kat was writing something. Dumbfounded that her best friend would actually be taking notes on a French book, she twisted to see what she was writing. She saw her name, and Kat's, and snatched the paper.

            "Hey!" protested Kat.

            Nikita glanced over the paper. It seemed to be some kind of list. Clutching her pencil, she scrawled hastily, "What the heck is this?" and passed it back.

            Kat wrote something in letters across the top, and passed it back up. Now it said:

**Odd Coincidence? …Girls In Our Class and What Crimson Gang Member They Like**

**Nikita Spot**

**Kat Swifty**

**Gabrielle Bumlets**

**Gabriel Mush**

**Nikki Kid Blink**

**Becca Racetrack**

**Vivien Skittery**

**Erica Davey**

**Margaret Cowboy**

**Natasha Snitch**

**Nina Jake**

**Melody Crutchy**

**Marissa Pie Eater**

**Ana Specs**

**Jess Itey**

**Adrienne Dutchy**

**Kerrie Snoddy**

**Danielle ?**

**Jaclyn ?**

            Nikita stared at the list in wonder. "How do you know all this?" she wrote under the names.

            "Observance," Kat wrote back.

            Nikita looked at the list again and nearly clapped her hands in excitement. "I just got the greatest idea ever… And Spot will be mine before we count to ten," she wrote.

            Kat suddenly wished she hadn't written the list.

            Nikita scribbled a note down on a piece of paper and wrote "Gabrielle" on the top of it. She passed it to her friend, who sat on the other side of the room. Gabrielle read it and passed it backwards, and it continued through the room. Mme Durouge was out in the hallway flirting with Herr Carter, the young German teacher (even though Mme was married), so of course she didn't notice.

            The note finally made it to Danielle, who sat behind Mush. Mush waited for the note to be passed to him, but it was instead passed to Kat, who passed it back to Nikita. Nikita opened up the folded square of paper and re-read her announcement:

            _Girls of the class, we must have a meeting about the Crimson Gang. Kat has made a shocking discovery. Sign below if you're interested, and then tomorrow at lunch, meet behind the school at the apple tree. -Nikita_

            Following this, eighteen signatures had been signed: every girl in the class. Nikita smiled to herself, then felt the tap of Mush on her shoulder. She turned to see that both he and Snoddy were trying to read the note. Smiling prettily, she crumpled it up and delicately placed it in her mouth and chewed it. Mush's face fell in disappointment.

            Nikita felt herself gagging on the thick wad of paper, but wouldn't let herself do something so unclassy—especially in front of these two friends of Spot's—as to spit it out, so she tried to swallow it. Instantly she began to choke. Her eyes bulged as it lodged in her throat.

            Snoddy stood her up and performed the Heimlich Maneuver on her. The paper flew out after only a few times and shot across the room, landing with a loud, wet smack on the chalkboard. Nikita glared at him. "I was _eating that," she said nastily, punching him in the stomach. His washboard abs hurt her hand. She tried not to show that her knuckles were now stinging as she pronounced, "Pass that punch along to your friend Spot Conlon, aka the clown that threw me on the ground today at lunch." She loftily stood as high as her 5'7" would allow, putting her nose in the air._

            Snoddy stared at her. "Uh… sure." The bell rang and Nikita practically sprinted out of the room, nursing her bruised hand. Snoddy stared after her, and a smile flitted across his face.

            Kerrie sighed to herself.


	3. He touched my shoulders

PLUG: Everyone, after you finish reading/reviewing this chappy, go to "search" and type in the authorname Misprint. When you find her, read her story "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". It's so good and she and Shade deserve WAY more reviews for it than they're getting. WAHOO! I just got a new 5-CD Stereo for no reason at all! I think it's an early Christmas present or something. Who knows. **shrugs** I'm just excited cuz I got it! And I christened it properly too – with my Newsies soundtrack. ;D *~Shoutouts… 

**Stryker – Thanks hun! Okay, so your review was on Chappy 1, but whatever. It was later than the others so your thanks is here on Chapter 3.**

**kimimay85 – I know! I think that was a kinda wishful approach on our French class… hopefully we'll have tons of fun this year in it, though. I hope we can convince Mrs. Cron to just let us watch movies in French! Wahoo! LOL… just not The Scarlet Pimpernel **Mondie shudders** And hopefully Mr. Pemberton can come back!! WAHOO!**

**Gypsy – Hey goilie! I don't know when I'll get around to finishing your story cuz I seem to be rather slow so far, but I promise I will! It's so good! Jade and Angel rock. :D**

**Rosa Lee – Hey! Thanks for the review! Your part is coming up, I swear. :D**

**Peg – Hey, you're coming up as well! LOL. I'm looking forward to the chapter about you and Skitts.**

**Tuffy – Don't worry goil! Your time will come. I've missed you! Yea, Gabriel ((Hades)) is getting Mush. But keep an eye out for a future story… wink wink, nudge nudge.**

**Blinks-Tiger – Just remember, to get your own Blinky story, you must keep reviewing… ::snicker::**

**Gemini Kelly – Ahh, I'm so glad we got to be friends through Misprint's story!! I love getting your reviews. And you'll soon find out Spot's reaction…**

**Jazz – Hey! Thanks for the review. I hope you keep coming to read more soon!**

**DragonflyCollins – Thanks goilie! You'll get your bowler soon enough! ;)**

**Misprint – YAY! Thank you for coming! Sorry the review didn't show up earlier. But now I'll give you two shoutouts:**

**Misprint – Here's your other one! Ah-ha! Thank you muchly for the compliments and the run-on review! ((I swear, my one lasting mark on this site will be just that: the run-on review. Wahoo for me!)) Oh, and WRITE MORE ECLIPSE!!!! LOLOL since I ran out of chappies in Bloodshot, now I'll just have to tell you in my own chappies… ((BTW, I think I'll read the Irish Mick thing next. I started it but only got about oh, one paragraph into it. But it's good!! I can't wait to get it read.))**

**Morning Dew – Thank you muchly!! More is here now. ^_^ **Oh yeah, thanks to Mis, I've started doing that face all over the place. Haha!****

**Moody – Thanks hun! And thanks for the emails. I'm keeping my eyes open for more chappies from you too!**

**Mel – I'm much obliged to ya! Thanks for reading.**

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 3**

**            "So, Nikita, what is this about?" It was the next day, at lunchtime. Nineteen girls were clustered around the tree. Nikita looked around anxiously. Somehow nineteen looked like a lot more girls once they were out of the classroom… She wasn't surprised that she only knew half of their names.**

            Kerrie, who had asked the question, tried to look aloof as she glanced around at the other girls. Some were friends, but even out here they had separated themselves into three cliques. She ignored the fact that she was the only one _not in a clique and tried to focus on the truth that she had been invited to hang out with these girls. True, it was supposedly for some reason, but that didn't matter – she'd been invited._

            Kat smiled at her. "Relax, Kerrie. We just wanted to discuss something."

            Danielle and Jaclyn, who alone made up the third clique, exchanged glances. "Uh, Kat," said Danielle, standing up and dusting off her pants. "Not to be rude or anything, but we're not exactly… friends with you guys. So… could we just leave?"

            Nikita eyed the two as Jaclyn stood up as well, then shrugged. "Fine." Kerrie couldn't help but notice the look of relief which flashed across Danielle's face as the two left, and was suddenly worried. What was she getting herself into?

            "Now. Business." Nikita waited until the two girls, who she considered traitors, to get completely out of sight, then she snatched a notebook which was sitting neatly on Kat's lap (She didn't really mind that Danielle and Jaclyn had left, because in all honesty, they weren't needed for her plan). She flipped it open and began reading. "Nikita, Spot. Kat, Swifty. Gabriel, Mush. Nikki, Blink. Gabrielle, Bumlets. Becca, Racetrack. Vivien, Skittery. Erica, Davey. Margaret, Cowboy. Kerrie, Snoddy. Adrienne, Dutchy. Jess, Itey. Ana, Specs. Marissa, Pie Eater. Melody, Crutchy. Nina, Jake. Natasha, Snitch." As each girl's name was read and then her corresponding crush, mouths dropped open, and uneasy glances were thrown to fellow girls they weren't quite sure of.

            "How did you know?" squeaked Kerrie.

            Nikita gently handed the notebook back to Kat (who had been the one to re-write the list after Nikita ruined the first one), then nodded at Kerrie. "It was all Kat. She's too smart for her own good. She notices things."

            "So we each like a member of the Crimson Gang. What's that say? That we're a bunch of pathetic losers?" Gabriel asked loudly with a grin. "Okay, so it _is kinda weird that we're all in French 4 together, but so what?"_

            "So I've got a plan to make the untouchables suddenly touchable. And all I need is you girls." Nikita smiled mysteriously, then clapped her hands excitedly. "Gabriel, let's take you, for example. So you like Mush. Nice choice, the boy is obviously good-looking, and a bit on the innocently adorable side. So how do you get him to notice you? Sure, he might _notice you, but then again, Mush notices about every single thing on the planet that could wear a skirt. So, the real question is, how do you get Mush to fall in love with you?_

            "Simple. You've been hanging around Nikki! And in this supposed example, Nikki has recently been hooked up with Kid Blink. How did she get these connections?" Nikita continued, whirling in place so that she was looking at Nikki. "Because she has been hanging out with Becca, who has gotten Racetrack to notice her finally! Becca got Race because she's friends with Adrienne, who's convinced Dutchy she's irresistible. Around and around and on and on the cycle goes, until we get to the two ends. One is Kat, who is our foot in the door of this operation because she, my darlings, has somehow been bestowed with the gift of Swifty's affections. Don't ask me how or why, I'm not sure. And the other end is Nikita, aka _moi. Once all of you have your men, mine won't be able to say no. His gang of tough boys will have disintegrated right around his feet. And that, my new friends, is how we are going to get our guys."_

            She had said the majority of this without taking a breath, and now she let it all out and grinned around the circle, waiting for a response. Finally Margaret let out a laugh. "I'm in," she said. "I've been itching to rope me up some Cowboy for some time now."

            The other girls laughed too, and agreed the plan was golden.

            "But one question, Nikita," asked Erica, a girl Nikita barely knew. She was quiet, and a quick overview of the girls in her mind reminded Nikita that her crush was on Davey. "How are we going to convince everyone suddenly that we're good friends? I hardly know half of these girls."

            "That, dear Erica, is the best part of all," said Nikita, and she motioned to Kat, who dumped out the contents of her bookbag. Now lying on the grass was a pile of deep green, satin ribbons. "Crimson Gang? Meet the Clover Gang."

            The girls all giggled in delight, and snatched up ribbons, which they hastily tied around their left arm, much like the Crimson Gangs' ribbons.

            "We need names," called out Kerrie. "Like, stupid names. Like the boys have."

            Nikita checked her watch. "We've got half an hour left of lunch. Here." She tore out pieces of paper and handed one to each girl. "Get out a pencil or something, and write your name at the top." Everyone did so, and then they passed the papers around the circle. Every girl looked at the name on the top of the list and wrote what she thought her new name should be.

            "Fifteen minutes," Nikita said, once all the papers were handed back. "Everyone pick out your favorite, we'll spend five minutes memorizing each other's, and then we'll go make our entrance onto the courtyard. I can't wait to see the look on Spot's face."

            All the girls giggled rather nervously, then scanned their papers. Some laughs were heard, and some groans. Soon, though, they had each picked out one name. They decided the wisest thing would be to go around the circle and announce the name, then everyone would repeat it to get it down.

            "Relic," said Nikita. "And I'm getting Spot." Everyone repeated her new name.

            "Taffee," said Kat. "Swifty."

            "Hades," Gabriel said, grinning devilishly. "And Mush."

            "Braces," Nikki said, the obvious reason glinting in the sun. "Blink."

            "Blaze," murmured Gabrielle. "Bumlets."

            "Divinity," said Becca. "I want my Racetrack."

            "Pegasus," said Vivien. "I'm going for Skittery."

            "BonBon," Erica said shyly. "Davey."

            "Princess, and I want Cowboy," Margaret announced.

            "Tunes. I'm Snoddy's girl." Kerrie grinned, finally beginning to feel accepted.

            "Klips," said Adrienne. "Dutchy's mine."

            "Stress," said Jess. "And I love my Itey."

            "Aki," said Ana. "Specs."

            "Squibble," said Marissa. "Pie Eater."

            "Bittah," Melody decided. "And I want Crutchy."

            "Coneflower, and Jake's for me," said Nina.

            "And I'm going to be Dragonfly, and I want to be Snitch's girl," finished up Natasha.

            Nikita looked around proudly at all the faces, which were grinning happily at her. "Now let's go show some Crimson what Clover's all about!" she cheered, standing up. The other girls followed, and as a large group, they set across the lawn.

            The activity in the courtyard was dwindling down. The smokers in the Crimson Gang were just lighting their last cigarettes while everyone else stayed outside as long as possible, aching not to go back into their hell.

            "Hey, Spot," said Cowboy with a little laugh. "Ain't that the girl that kept falling all over you yesterday?" He pointed out, across the grass, to an extremely large group of girls.

            "What the…" Spot said, standing up on the Quad for a better view. Everyone still in the courtyard turned around, too.

            "What's on their arms?" Mush asked quietly.

            Spot narrowed his eyes at the bright green ribbons, which accented as clearly as the crimson. His eyes flashed and he angrily crossed his arms over his chest.

            The Crimson Gang gathered around behind him, standing on the very edge of the Quad. The Clover Gang marched up, gathered behind Nikita. Nikita stood up as close as she could to Spot, so that their noses were half an inch apart.

            Then she kissed the tip of his nose.

            For half a second Spot stared at her. Then he uneasily looked around at his friends, as if unsure what to do. He didn't like to fight girls. But this one—who had also punched Snoddy, as he'd heard from Mush—had done something which he couldn't excuse.

            He put out his arms and, as lightly as he could, shoved her backwards. She fell onto the girls behind her, and most of the Clover Gang fell over onto the grass.

            "What was that for?" Nikita screamed, struggling to her feet. "Don't you dare mess with the leader of the Clover Gang!"

            Spot just glared at her. "Don't go around punching my men, then," he answered. "And never – and I mean never – kiss me. I don't care what little group you're pretending to lead. I am Spot Conlon! _The_ Spot Conlon. And I don't want to fight girls. But you? I just might make an exception." He growled, then turned to the Crimson Gang. All of them slapped the amused looks off their faces. "C'mon."

            The girls of the Clover Gang (who were all now standing again) watched the Crimson Gang walk off.

            Nikita couldn't have been happier.

            "I kissed Spot!" she shrilled on her way into the building. "And he touched my shoulders!"


	4. You're amazing :Taffee and Swifty

Shoutouts… 

_Morning Dew_ – Thanks a bunch girlie. Sorry it took so long to update! I was stuck on a brainstorming fit for a while. :) Hehe!

_Blinks-Tiger_ – I'm so glad you'll keep reviewing. That makes me undeniably happy.

_Gypsy_ – First of all, sorry I haven't finished the story yet! Yikes! I feel horrible. I'll make that my project for tonight after everyone else is in bed. Hehe! Thanks for the review and all the sweet comments!!! :D

_Gemini Kelly_ – **Mondie gets a smirk on face** LOL, I'm not in the story either, so we'll start an HONORARY Clover Gang. Haha!

_Tuffy_ – Yes, that little shoutout meant what you thought it meant… LOL! Just give me time to think of something. And finish a few other stories. Yikes.

_Stress_ – Thanks hun! You'll have a bigger part … eventually. I don't think in this chappy, but soon. I promise!!!!

_Mads And Alex_ – Okay, I already emailed you back, so no excuses. WHERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER??? ((If it's up and I just overlooked it somehow, I'm gonna feel stupid)) Oh, and no, I have yet to see American Psycho, though I don't doubt that CB is sexy in it… I shall have to remember to rent that next week when I take back the 4 movies I just rented today.

_Hades_ – Thanks hun!!! I can't wait to write your chappy with you and Mushy Darling.

_kimimay85_ – Hrm, your review had nothing to do with the chapter. Hahahahaha! I'm glad you wanna see my CD player, tho. It's nothing too fancy, I just enjoy the fact that it has a remote… LOL! Sorry I couldn't go to Pine Lake today. Grrr to babysitting. I did get $22, though…

_Aki_ – Thanks so much! Your part is coming, too. Yikes. Don't worry, I'll get you in, and it'll be GOOD, too. Just cuz you leave me nice reviews. ^_^

_Pegasus_ – Thanks hun! Hey, I haven't gotten an email from you in a while, have I? :(

_Dragonfly_ - **Mondie laughs** Your bowler *is* coming, m'dear. Don't you worry.

_Holiday_ – Thanks for the review! LOL, I know what you mean about checking ff.net more often… if I skip even one day, the next day is hell cuz there are sooo many stories I read that have been updated!

_Taffee_ – This chappy is ALL about you, babe. Hope ya like it.

_Moody_ – Thanks! I was glad to see you updated your story, too. Keep going!

_Braces_ – Thanks! And the next chapter's out… right now! LOL!

_Emu_ – THANKS HUN! I haven't heard from you in a while, MDLF! What's going on?? Been to any llama shows lately? **Mondie laughs**

_Tunes_ – Whew! It's a relief that I'm not butchering your character so that you hate me by the end of this story. I enjoy your character in this fanfic… LOL how was that for modesty? "I love how I write you!" Gah!! *Mush hits Mondie over the head*

_Misprint_ – Run-on review this time, you promised!!! ^_~ LOL. YOU UPDATED ECLIPSE! I was so happy I nearly cried! Now hurry, get on a spree and write MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE of it!!!!!!!!!!!!! **Mondie hugs Mis and Shade**

_Lucky_ – I speak French too! LOL. Well, somewhat. Okay, so I'm not fluent or anything, but I suffered my way through Les Mis… And yeah, I'm not really sure what you and Eldorado ((Danielle)) are gonna do yet. I'll figure it out soon, though.

~Hey, this is totally random, but I just had this idea… maybe. If you want to be in this story but missed the CC or whatever, email me your fanfic profile ((looks, background, personality, real first name)) and put "Untouchables 2nd CC" in the subject… i_shot_andy@yahoo.com is the email addy… thanks!!!~

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 4**

            Kat, or Taffee, as she was now called, screamed aloud in agony as she hit yet another red light. She had already overslept, and now this?

            Nikita, now known as Relic (something which was very hard for Taffee to remember, indeed), had called a meeting this morning for the Clover Gang. Their debut into the school the previous day had been a smash success. Fellow students had thought it was a great gag, and even the teachers went along with it, learning the girls' new names and even using them, much to Spot Conlon's great disapproval.

            The meeting was supposed to be at 7:15, and it was already after 7:20. Taffee was never late to anything. However, that morning she'd not only slept through her alarm, but her little sister, Katarina (who was called Kitty because the obvious choice for a nickname had been taken by Kat herself), had gotten angry at her and thrown orange juice all over her outfit. Taffee had had to change as quickly as she could.

            Finally the light changed and, grumbling, Taffee made it quickly to school, pulling into the parking lot at 7:23. Then she halted her car and stared.

            All the front spaces were filled.

            This would be nothing new, if it weren't so early in the morning (school started at 8:15). Also, if the front seventeen spots weren't "owned" by the Crimson Gang.

            When Spot Conlon had debuted his Crimson Gang, he'd gone to school extremely early, before any car got there, and spray-painted a crimson "X" on the first seventeen spots. Then he'd parked his car in the first one and watched carefully to make sure no random person parked there. Since then, no one had ever had the guts to park in a Crimson Gang member's spot, just like how no one crossed (or stepped on) the Quad. Another factor of the mystery was the fact that the Crimson Gang was famous for never being early. They seemed to have an invincible hold on the school, where neither teacher nor principal seemed to care who was late and for what reason. So the fact that all their places would be taken so early was not even fathomable.

            Then Taffee realized something. Sitting in Spot's usual parking place was Relic's car. And over there was Hades' Mercedes convertible. Taffee inched along to the last of the Crimson Gang's places, number 17. The large red "X" had been painted over in sparkly dark green. Taffee gasped to herself, then let a slow smile spread across her lips. Leave it to Relic.

            She eased her car into the place, and then remembered how late she was. Grabbing her purse and books and car keys, she hustled out of the car and slammed the door shut.

            "HEY! YOU!"

            She looked over, and groaned. _Not now… she thought to herself, wondering how she had missed this upon her entrance._

            In the middle of the deserted second half of the parking lot stood Spot Conlon's vintage Corvette. Sitting on the hood of the car as if it were his throne was Spot Conlon, the intense black of his outfit contrasting immensely with the bright orange of his car. He wore a scowl which matched the dark gray of the sky.

            She walked over as quickly as she could, keeping her face ducked.

            "What's this all about?" Spot growled, as soon as she was close enough to hear his growls audibly. "What happened to my parking places?"

            "I don't know," Taffee whispered, keeping her eyes on the ground. She didn't need this now, she really didn't…

            "Aw, lighten up, Spot," came Swifty's voice, and Taffee's head snapped up. She hadn't even seen him, what with Spot's car being angled the way it was. But there he was, sitting on his prized possession, his crimson-colored (of course) motorcycle. "I think it's pretty funny, myself." He gave Taffee a shy smile. She involuntarily smiled back. "Let the girls have their fun."

            "Are you joking?" Spot nearly screamed. "Let them have their fun?! I don't think so, Swifts! This is serious!"

            Swifty started up his motorcycle and roared around the car, zipping through the parking lot. He parked it in the spot next to Taffee's Mitsubishi. Then he came walking over, his lanky limbs dangling. Taffee couldn't help but grin at how adorable he was.

            "Let me carry your books," Swifty said, and before she could protest, he had already grabbed them and was setting off, his scarecrow-like gait seeming to fill the whole parking lot.

            "Wait up!" she said, running after him.

            Spot glowered from his seat. "TELL YOUR FRIEND, THE LEADER, THAT THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" he screamed at her retreating back, and then scowled at the cars invading what he figured was _his turf._

            "Taffee! Where ya been?" Relic asked, looking up. She'd gotten permission from Mme Durouge to use her classroom, which is where the Clover Gang now gathered. "You've missed all sorts of stuff. Like…" Her voice dropped off as Taffee stepped further into the room. Outlined in the doorway was a certain spindly silhouette. Relic nearly clapped her hands. "Oh, Swifty!"

            Taffee took her books from his arms and smiled at him. "Thanks, Swifty."

            "You're welcome. I'll see you in biology?"

            "Yeah." She couldn't keep the gigantic smile from her face.

            "See ya, girls." He waved a goodbye into the classroom, then disappeared down the hallway.

            Tunes, who had convinced her family the night before no longer to call her Kerrie, stood up and stuck her head into the hallway, watching him disappear. As soon as he turned a corner, she turned back to the classroom, her eyes afire. "How did _that happen?" she squealed._

            Sitting down in her French desk, Taffee told the story, her cheeks blushing a little whenever she mentioned Swifty. As soon as she finished, the room's before-silent air erupted with catcalls and whoops.

            No one, however, save maybe Taffee, was as elated as Relic. "Spot sent a message to me! Spot sent a message to me!" she squealed, jumping up on the chair of her desk to do a little dance. "Say it again, Taffee."

            "He said to tell you that this isn't funny." Taffee couldn't see why Relic was so excited over so angry a message.

            Relic hugged herself. "Sa-weet! My man loves me!" she screamed, throwing her head back and letting out with a jungle cry.

            It took quite some time for the room to further quiet down, and the rest of the meeting was mainly for gossip and such. At around 8:40, Relic remembered that the parking lot was visible from Mme Durouge's room, and stuck her head out the window to catch a glimpse of Spot.

            "He's gone," she said in disappointment. "I bet he won't be here for classes today."

            Sure enough, there was no sign of the sandy-haired, blue-eyed leader of the Crimson Gang. Nobody really took note of it, though—Spot came to school about as much as he skipped it, at least for the first half of each school year's first semester.

            Taffee really didn't notice, what with her head up in the clouds and her feet barely touching the tiled floors. Swifty was waiting for her outside the biology room. "Let's skip and go riding around on my motorcycle," he suggested lowly, his eyes twinkling as they locked on hers.

            She was genuinely shocked. "I can't do that! I have to study!" she said, then realized how lame she sounded. "I mean…"

            Swifty didn't seem to mind. "Oh, I guess you're right," he sighed. "It's my senior year, so I really should be buckling down on my studies, right?" He gave a little laugh which nearly melted whatever resolve was left in Taffee's heart. "How about… well, I have cross country practice right after school, but that's over at five. What do you say I pick you up at five thirty, to give me time to shower and all, and we'll go out for dinner and then just ride around on my bike?"

            Taffee's heart thudded in her chest. "That sounds great," she whispered. She'd never ridden on a motorcycle before, and certainly not with a boy, and _definitely not with a Crimson Gang boy._

            The bell rang, and Taffee's thoughts skidded to a halt. She'd never been late to a class before in her life. Mr. Swan, the bio teacher, had closed the door. "Oh, no!" she said.

            "Don't worry," Swifty told her, and knocked on the door. Mr. Swan answered it, and let them in.

            "Don't let it happen again, Swifts," he said, but there was a twinkle in his blue eyes. He, like every other teacher in school, was easily duped by any Crimson Gang member.

            "It won't, Mr. Swan. I was just setting up a date with the lovely Miss Taffee, here," Swifty answered conversationally, sitting in his usual seat.

            Any talk in the classroom was silenced, as everyone turned to look at Taffee. She felt incredibly self-conscious. BonBon was the only other Clover Gang member in the group, and Taffee searched for her almost frantically. BonBon gave her a thumbs-up and a huge grin, which relaxed Taffee slightly.

            "Good choice, Swifts," Mr. Swan said, grinning. "And now, let's get back to _Lepidoptra…"_

            Five-thirty came very quickly for Taffee. She wondered if her outfit was good—she wore jean shorts, a loose rugby shirt with white and black stripes, Skechers with no socks, and of course her dark green armband. She'd fixed her hair up in a fancy bun with Relic's help.

            It was 5:29 when a new thought occurred to Taffee—did Swifty know which house she lived in? She hadn't given him her address. The thought distressed her greatly, but she didn't have his number to call him and tell him…

            A moment later, the doorbell rang. She sighed in relief.

            She opened the door and stepped outside, pulling it closed behind her. "Hi, Swifty," she said, smiling at him as she felt her legs turn to jelly.

            "You look beautiful," Swifty answered, taking her in with his wise, dark eyes. His hair was wet from his shower, and he was dressed in the same outfit from school: a pair of nondescript jeans and a cross country t-shirt.

            "You do, too," she answered, and meant it whole-heartedly. She'd never seen anyone look better in her whole life.

            "Shall we go, then?" he asked, smiling at her. She was a bit upset when she realized that, to put her helmet on, she'd have to take down her hair, but Swifty didn't mind: he instead picked up a strand of her long hair, twisting it between his fingers. "I love your hair," he said softly. "And your eyes. And your lips…" For a moment, his eyes rested hungrily on her lips, and she wondered if he was going to kiss her. Then he abruptly turned and shoved his helmet on. She did the same.

            She wrapped her arms securely around his stomach, feeling his carved stomach muscles expand and contrast with his rhythmic breathing. She felt herself relaxing slightly, too. Until the motorcycle started.

            Such an exhilarating ride Taffee had never imagined. The wind ripped past, causing her shirt to billow behind her. Her arms ached from holding them around Swifty's waist so tightly. It was so liberating, so freeing. She closed her eyes and let the wind take away all her worries and concerns…

            It started to rain. Dark thunderclouds had threatened all day, but this was the first time it had actually let loose with the moisture confined within it. Taffee smiled, wishing she could rip off her helmet and sacrifice herself to the playful drops. She loved the rain. But her safer, sensible side assured her that if they slid on the puddles now forming in the street, she'd want her helmet on. So she just enjoyed the feel of the rain soaking the back of her shirt, tangling with her hair that peeked out from underneath her helmet. _So this is heaven, she thought to herself. __Who knew it'd be so perfect?_

            Perfect, that is, until the sputtering started.

            They'd been cruising around the countryside, two silent riders connected in one moment, suspended forever. But the motorcycle began to make its odd noises, and Swifty pulled over and halted it. He climbed off his seat and, cursing quietly, kicked at his tires before checking a few other things that could be wrong. He took off his helmet and Taffee followed suit. The rain began to soak all of her hair, for the raindrops, pleasant and lilting while riding with speed on back roads, became suddenly fat and angry when standing still. She lifted up her head and stuck out her tongue, laughing as rain splashed off her.

            "I'm out of gas," Swifty said in disbelief, finally finding the problem. "I've never done this before…" He ran a hand through his slick, black hair, which was as drenched as hers. "I'm sorry, Taffee. I was just so happy to be going out to dinner with you…"

            "I don't mind," she said, looking over at him. He had to note that she'd never looked quite so alive to him before. Her cool eyes sparked with the essence of pixies' dreams, and her mouth was decorated in a full-blown smile. "I love the rain. I love riding on your motorcycle. And I love…" She cut herself off. _Don't scare him off, Kat, she reminded herself._

            "You love what?" he asked, walking over so that he was as close to her as he could get without standing on her. His eyes sparkled, and he blinked rapidly to keep the water rolling down his face out of his eyes.

            "Never mind," she said softly, a little scared by the intensity in his eyes.

            "Me?" he guessed, bringing his face all the much closer to hers.

            "You," she agreed, swallowing hastily.

            He leaned forward and brushed his lips to hers, then intensely kissed her. She shivered, but she wasn't sure if it was because the rain was cold or because of her feelings for Swifty. She kissed him back, and his hand brushed lightly against her cheek before tangling in her wet hair.

            "You're amazing," he whispered to her.

            Taffee smiled, disbelieving this could be happening to her. How could one of Relic's plans possibly work? It had never happened before.

            At that moment, a lone car's headlights flashed on them. Taffee and Swifty separated long enough for the kind stranger to give them some gas out of a gas can he kept in his trunk. The only part of them which didn't separate occurred when Swifty caught ahold of her hand and didn't let it go.

            "Are you ready for dinner?" he asked after the stranger had driven off with a wave and a honk.

            "Can we just go somewhere and talk?" she responded. "I'm not hungry, Swifty. I'm just… happy."

            He smiled sweetly at her, then shoved his helmet on his head. She put hers on too, and then they climbed on the bike. He started the engine, and she'd never heard anything sweeter in her whole life.

            Except, of course, Swifty's comment to her: "You're amazing."

            When she finally got home that evening, her face flushed and lips red, she could only fall onto her bed with a contented sigh. She reached for the phone to call Relic and tell her how it had gone … but then paused. She brought her arm slowly back to her body, then pressed the hand, which had been the one Swifty had held, to her cheek. Relic could wait until the next day. The only person Taffee wanted to think about right now was Swifty. Beautiful, amazing Swifty… she looked at her left arm and smiled. Proudly tied there was not her green Clover Gang ribbon, but a red Crimson Gang ribbon. Swifty had untied her ribbon and his, and switched them, so that everyone would know that they were now boyfriend and girlfriend. And crazy about each other.

            Swifty's girl… she could get used to that title.


	5. You are home :Peg and Skitts

Everyone cheer for RUMOR! She has won the prize! She's the first one to realize, or else just the first person to comment, on the fact that the gangs' names are Crimson and Clover… "Crimson and Clover" is a song by Joan Jett, but Jimmy Eat World samples it on their CD on #2 (I can't think of the title of that song tho, sorry) and I came up with this idea on the way to band camp while listening to… YOU GOT IT. #2 on Jimmy Eat World. Which is where the Crimson Gang and the Clover Gangs got their names. Wahoo! Shoutoutz… ((Bare with me, we got quite a few this time—THANK YOU!!!!)) 

**Stress – Thanks goilie! That means a lot, cuz I love your writing too.**

**Aki – Wahoo! Thanks. More is here.**

**Braces – Thanks for the review! Your chappy with Blink is coming up soon… I think… LOL.**

**Morning Dew – :D Thanks dear. And you'll find out what Spot thinks of the switched armbands in this chappy…**

**Lucky aka Raider – Yay! Thanks hun! Yeah, I like writing for Spot. He makes me laugh.**

**Pegasus – This chappy is all yours, hun. Thanks for being a great email buddy! LOLOL and we must banish TARK for stealing the Mush cookies…**

**Drama-Queen – I'm not sure when more Jack is coming, but rest assured, for he WILL come… he's gotta. LOL.**

**Gypsy – Ahhh, I must start reading the sequel to _Broken Rules_… cuz you just COULDN'T leave everyone happy, could you?! No, no, no… you had to ruin their lives… *sigh* So I WILL finish returning the favor soon… and I love you in Jester's story, hehe!**

**Moody – Heya Moods! Yeah, I kinda made Swifty like the guy that I want… like the persona of the guy I want to find someday… unbelievably sweet… I think Skitts is kinda the same in this chappy, but so sue me… I'm a romantic. What can I do?**

**Misprint – Can't blame Shade there, I love motorcycles too… like I just told Moods, Swifty in the last chappy is like the embodiment of what I someday want in a guy… motorcycle and all… *sigh* Who can blame me?! **Mondie steals blue pipe cleaners from your review and waves them back** GET OVER YOUR WRITING BLOCK! I NEED MORE ECLIPSE! WHAT HAPPENS TO ME AND MUSH?!?!?!? LOL I'm dying here with anitici … pation. ((Sorry, had to throw in a little Rocky Horror for ya there.))**

**ashley – Thanks!**

**Holiday – Thanks goil! Your story ((the title escapes me at the moment, I apologize)) is WONDERFUL!!!**

**jsgirl2005 – Worthy of DAVID?? I feel special… wow… I have never been so highly complimented before! Thank you!!!!**

**sobealizard – Heya Sobes! Thanks for reviewing! You're such a sweetie. WRITE MORE IMMEDIATELY!**

**Mist – Thank you!!!!!**

**kimimay85 – AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING TOGETHER AT THE ORCHARD TREE!!!!!!! **happy dance** Okay, and as for your review… (Lol) Of course I kept them safe. I was gonna have them without helmets cuz it's much more romantic, but I wanted to teach safety within my story. LOL. And I made everyone safe. Don't worry, no one's dying… yet. Oh, and you are *not* bigger than me. :P So there.**

**rumor – You crack me up, too. Yeah, I know I'm dogging on Mush, but it's only because I love him and because I'm not gonna get him in this story since ::ahem:: I'm not in it. LOLOL. I still think he's adorable though!!! Can't pimps be cute? And are you so sure that Spot's gonna turn head-over-heels for Relic? Hmmm?**

**Doll Face – Thanks!! That's so sweet of you. I wrote more, I promise!!! LOL.**

**Blinks-Tiger – Thanks hun!!!!!!!!! I know, last chapter ~was~ an all-out awwwww-fest, wasn't it? LOL! This chapter kinda is, but not as bad… as you'll see, Relic is up to her usual mischief… and Spot's not too happy about it…**

**Dragonfly – The bowler is coming! I promise I promise I promise! LOLOL.**

**Stripes McKee – Thanks!! The Crimson Love Gang… I like it! Hehehe.**

**Anne K. Letoile – WOW! Thanks for the super review!!!! I'll post that under "Things To Read When Your Ego Needs Inflating". LOL!**

**Ali – Thanks for the review!! I hope you come back and read more.**

**Shade – You're just awesome, dear. Thanks for coming to check this out!!!!!! YOU AND MIS MUST UPDATE NOWWWWWWWWWWWWW! LOLOL.**

**Court Jester – Thanks hun! Yup, Jack's an artist… I know… hehe **Mondie giggles too** But you'll see, I've got BIG plans for Jackie Boy… And who cares if others think you're insane? I know you're not. LOL. ((BTW, thanks for updating Rent. It's wonderful! I'm just a little confused… you'll get me when you read my latest review.)) I love quoting musicals too!!! :D Thanks for all the reviews, babe.**

**Taffee – Yup… Spot's not gonna be one happy duck… then again, he isn't a duck, so if he WERE a happy duck, I'd be frightened…__**

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 5**

            Early the next morning, Skittery pulled his Jeep into the parking lot and sighed. Spot had told the Crimson Gang to come early to get their parking places back, and apparently the Clover Gang had figured that out, because they were there too. Cars were parked every which way haphazardly, with no regard to actual spaces. Spot Conlon, wearing his all-black ensemble with his dark red ribbon, was the easiest to pick out. He was clutching a can of red spray paint in each hand.

            He was facing off with that brown-haired girl who was in charge of the girls' gang. Skittery parked his Jeep and joined the fray.

            He elbowed his way past most of his friends, right to the front of the groups. Spot's eyes were narrowed and he was screaming at the girl. She was holding two cans of her own green spray paint.

            Skittery noticed something and his mouth dropped open. Spot's front was covered in dark green sparkly paint. It hadn't been evident from his Jeep, but now that he was next to his leader, it was impossible to ignore. No wonder Spot was so upset. Not only was he nearly at the snapping point over this Clover Gang already, but his outfit was ALWAYS impeccable.

            Skitts now looked to the girl, wondering what was going through her mind. How could she possibly have done such a stupid thing?

            Her face, however, was the opposite of Spot's—calm. Happy, even. She had the same look in her eyes that countless girls had when they looked at Spot: adoration.

            "You whore! You evil little bitch!" Spot shouted, his eyes now bulging with anger. Skittery tuned into his words, and shook his head.

            "Spot…" he said, eyeing his leader with doubt.

            At the same moment, a girl looking at her own leader said, in the same warning tone, "Relic…" Skittery looked over in surprise, and smiled when he saw how pretty she was. She looked over too, and jerked back her head so that her dark wavy hair flew out of her eyes, revealing a flash of chocolate brown. She gave him a shy smile before turning back to her friend, Relic.

            Spot had stopped yelling at Relic, but now he was eyeing Skittery with disapproval. "Just… let it go," Skittery said, trying not to laugh at the green paint.

            Spot gave a short bark of a laugh. "I don't _think so, Skittery," he said in disgust. Then he turned back to Relic. "YOU BITCH…"_

            Everyone was interrupted by the gunning roar of a motorcycle. "Hey, who's riding with Swifts?" asked Cowboy, shading his eyes as the motorcycle came into the parking lot with two riders.

            Relic forgot the situation with Spot at hand as she watched Taffee climbing off the motorcycle with Swifty. They took off their helmets and linked hands, smiling into each others' eyes. Unaware that thirty-two pairs of eyes were watching them, Swifty whispered something in her ear. She giggled back, and then they shared a quick kiss.

            All the members of the Clover Gang shared a collective sigh.

            The happy couple reached the big skirmish, and smiled greetings to their friends.

            "Hold on," Spot said, his eyes narrowing again. "Swifty, what is on your arm?"

            Everyone's eyes flew to Swifty's left arm, where tied over the sleeve of his plain blue t-shirt was Taffee's dark green ribbon.

            "You know how it is, Spot," Swifty said, trying to sound carefree. However, his shifting nervously from foot to foot betrayed his fear. "Taffee and I are together now."

            "EEEEEEK!" screamed Relic, pushing Spot out of the way and rushing over to Taffee. She pulled her best friend into a hug. "Why didn't you tell me?"

            Taffee laughed and squealed a little too. Swifty watched with a grin on his face. Until Spot marched his way over. He grabbed Swifty's arm and pulled off the green ribbon. Waiting until everyone's eyes were on him, Spot pretended to deliberate over what to do with it. Then, malice glinting in his eyes, he threw it on the ground and stomped on it, twisting his foot to mash it into the asphalt. Then he grabbed Taffee's arm and untied Swifty's ribbon, then thrust it back at Swifty.

            Swifty stared at him, but slowly tied the ribbon back around his arm with his right arm and his teeth. Then he put his arm around Taffee, who was looking at Spot with hurt in her eyes. Everyone stared at the face-off.

            Then Swifty thrust his leg forward and kicked Spot in the shin.

            Spot wasn't expecting that, to say the least, and stepped backwards with the kicked leg. The ribbon which had been under Spot's heel was now lying unguarded. Swifty bent and picked it up quickly, then handed it to his girlfriend. His black eyes glared at Spot as he guided Taffee through the groups of gangs and into the school. Neither he or she looked back.

            "…Wow," breathed a voice near Skittery. "Did that just happen?" He looked over and saw the dark-haired girl from before. She looked at him too, then blushed and turned away, walking quickly back towards her friends as if embarrassed.

            Skittery stared after her. There was something familiar about her…

            She was in his thoughts all day long. Her brown eyes captivated his mind, and her beauty captivated his heart. His friends in the Crimson Gang noticed his flightiness, but no one commented, because they were still in shock about Swifty's attitude that morning. He was still in the Gang and still ate with them at lunchtime and everything, but things were subdued around him.

            Finally, it was the last period of the day. Skittery sighed in relief. One more class, and he'd be free to go home. He'd already had a horrible day, because his thoughts couldn't stay on his studies… they were up in the air with Her. His teachers had gone nuts on him, and if he weren't a member of the Crimson Gang, he would have had detention for the rest of the week.

            A smile crossed his face as he made his way through the crowded hallways, though. He loved eighth period. Debate class.

            He'd joined the class his freshman year, because he had had three study halls a day and the counselor had insisted he take some electives. The school's debate team had been a bit of a joke before then, and he'd thought it would be a class to sleep through. Then he'd gotten in there.

            Mr. Chausser, the teacher, was hard, but fun. Skittery had found he really belonged there, and had soon become the star debater. He almost always won. He could debate until his face turned blue, whether in fact he was actually in favor of whatever he was arguing for, or not.

            He took his seat in his desk. There were only six other people in the class. They were the "varsity" debate team. The "JV" debate team met third period. The third period class was a lot bigger, because it was all the freshmen who took it, and any upperclassmen who a) had been cut from varsity, b) didn't have eighth period open, or c) hadn't taken it before.

            "As you know," Mr. Chausser said, "Tomorrow is our big match against Poulet Rouge High. As you well know, it's during the school day, so don't forget to bring your permission slip and a sack lunch. To get us in spirits for the debate, I've invited the third period class to come up and have a little debate with you all."

            "Mr. Chausser?" Charlie, a kid with glasses and a long, sloping nose (which meant he was constantly shoving said glasses up said nose) called, waving his arm in the air. His flailing arm hit Skittery in the head several times. Skittery hated sitting next to Charlie.

            "Yes, Charlie?" Mr. Chausser said, turning to look at the scrawny boy.

            Charlie shoved his glasses up his nose before answering. They immediately slid back down again. "I can't make it tomorrow, I've got a huge math test I can't miss. I tried to get out of it, but to no avail. Can a JV kid go in my place?"

            "We'll ask when they get up here," Mr. Chausser answered. At that moment, as if planned, the door opened and in stepped a few girls from third period. Soon about twelve kids had gathered in the room.

            Skittery's mouth dropped open as he saw Her standing there. He must've seen her in the JV class, at one of their matches where both teams went or something… he smiled to himself.

            Mr. Chausser was speaking with her in low tones, then turned and clapped. When the noise dropped off, he smiled. "Charlie, I've talked Vivien here into coming along. So you're off the hook."

            _Vivien… Skittery said her name to himself. __Beautiful._

_            "Mr. Chausser!" she giggled. "My name isn't that anymore."_

            "Oh, sorry, Viv!" Mr. Chausser answered. He laughed too. "I keep forgetting about that little group you're in that rivals Spot's little group." Skittery cringed to himself, glad Spot hadn't heard the comment about his "little group". "All right, I apologize. _Pegasus will be joining us tomorrow."_

            Charlie slid out of his seat, shoving his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. Pegasus took his place. She turned and smiled shyly at Skittery, then turned forward again.

            "Hey, Peg," he said lightly, as Mr. Chausser turned to the JV team to split them into a group to rival the varsity team. She turned to him, raising her arched eyebrows. "This is stupid of me, but would you like to hang out this afternoon or something? I've got a bunch of movies back at my house…"

            Pegasus could only gape at him. It had _never been so easy with a guy before, ever. Skittery had never even noticed her until she'd tried to get Relic to stop egging Spot on that morning… did he somehow know that she had a crush on him?_

            He took her silence as a no. "Well, you could at least have the decency to answer me," he said, his face turning to a scowl. "Sorry I asked." He turned to Josh, on the other side of him, and began to talk.

            Pegasus was about to correct him when Mr. Chausser finished. "Okay, let's get started!" he said, his eyes lit up.

            Skittery had never debated with such fire before. Pegasus' refusal had spurred him on. Even Mr. Chausser, who was used to Skittery's skill, looked impressed.

            "Skittery?" Pegasus asked shyly when the class was almost over. "I'd love to hang out with you this afternoon."

            He looked at her skeptically. "Why, because I'm a good debater?" he asked, his voice rich with sarcasm.

            She shook her head. "No. I was just… shocked earlier, that you'd want to hang out with me and all. I've kinda been trying to get you to notice me for a while, actually…" She began to twirl a piece of her hair around her finger.

            Skittery grinned. "Really?" The bell rang, and he slung his backpack over his shoulder. She did the same, and they fell into an easy step as they walked together down the hallway, talking.

            She followed his car to his house, and when they got there, it was empty. "My mom works, and my brother's at college," Skittery explained. He picked up a note lying on the counter. Pegasus read over his shoulder:

_Marcus, please fold the laundry that's in the drier. And can you make some dinner? I'll be home at six. Dan's at the office til 9 tonight, so it'll just be the two of us. Love, Mom._

            Pegasus smiled at his name—Marcus—then focused on Dan. "Who's Dan?" she asked, looking up at Skittery's tousled brown hair.

            "Mom's boyfriend," Skittery mumbled. "C'mon, let's go pick out a movie." He led her into the living room. Against one wall was a huge bookcase, but it was filled with movies. "Pick whatever you want, I hafta go get the laundry."

            Pegasus surveyed the collection, before finding one of her favorite movies, _Almost Famous. She took it down and put the tape in the VCR. She fast-forwarded through the previews, then stopped it to wait for Skittery. He came in soon, a mound of clothing in his arms. He had to backtrack to pick up some socks and such that he'd dropped. "What'd ya pick?" he asked._

            She told him, and he smiled happily. "That's one of my favorites," he said.

            "Mine, too," she agreed. They looked at each other and grinned. She settled onto one end of the couch. He dumped all the clothes on the other side and began to fold them.

            As the movie's beginning played, she leaned over and helped him fold some of the clothes. It was evident that they'd both seen the movie a lot, because they quoted along with it—often—and always at the same parts. Soon the laundry was done, in neat piles on the floor. Skittery then took its place on the couch.

            He spent the movie inching along the couch towards her, and by the time they got to the part where Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" plays on the tour bus, he was right next to her. She surprised him by leaning her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her. They sang along when the band began to sing, and he liked how he could feel the vibrations when she sang. "I need to go home," the two said along with William.

            With Penny, they replied to themselves: "You are home."

            Skittery leaned down and kissed Pegasus.

            …They didn't watch the rest of the movie.


	6. Lane four :Dragonfly and Snitch

_Wahoo! I've definitely figured out the plot for this story. Like, the ENTIRE plot. It took a while. And to my second casting call group – your parts aren't going to be major. I'm sorry about that. But there's already so many characters to keep track of in this story… don't worry, you *will* appear… just not particularly in depth. Who knows, some of you may sneak your way into a plot line or two._

_Side note to Misprint … SPOT THE SUICIDAL LADYBUG IS IN MY ROOM RIGHT NOW AS I WRITE THIS! YOU CAN ASK MY CAT WHO IS TRYING TO EAT HIM!_

_The story isn't finished, but I ::did:: figure out where it's going. There are going to be 20 chapters. It worked out perfectly (how 'bout that?!) so YAY!_

_Shoutouts!!!!!_

Raider :: Thanks hun! Yeah, I agree, I think I shoulda set aside a guy for myself… humph. Maybe I'll include myself in the "second casting call" group's collective role. LOL!

Braces :: Thanks! Yeah, Spot was a jerk, but don't worry… he's gonna change. Eventually. Unless I'm lying to you right now, in which case he won't change. Hahaha! **Don't ask me why my sense of humor fits me. There's no explanation.**

Ashley :: Argh! How's THAT for pressure?? Haha! I hope you like this chapter.

Morning Dew :: Freaky! Maybe you should start calling Marcus Skittery… hahahaha! Oh, and I think you read it wrong… Relic didn't paint Spot's CAR, she painted SPOT. Like his outfit. His car is still orange. If I did that to his car, I'd never forgive myself. Haha.

Tuffy :: Thanks dearie! How was NC? BTW, I'm really glad you liked the songfic I wrote for you… it was hard, cuz Mushy Darling's usually MINE… LOLOLOL. And in this story, I have to let Hades have him. It's torture. Heh.

Slick :: Hey t'anks! You're a sweetie. :D And I'd just like to say that I loved your character in Mis's Bloodshot Streets of Brooklyn **That *was* based on you, right????**

Gemini Kelly :: No, YOU'RE awesome!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the awesome review goilie. More coupledom in this chappy, of course!! ((On the side… didn't you love the latest two chappies of Eclipse??? YAY SHADE AND MIS!!!!!!!!))

Drama-Queen :: Thanks!!! :D I'll keep writing if you'll keep reviewing. Heh. Okay, so even if you don't review, I'll keep writing. Or else everyone else would have my head.__

Court Jester :: Eeks! Yay, I'm glad you like Almost Famous too. It's definitely one of my favorite movies. All the characters are SO cool. And the airplane scene… HAHAHAHA! "I'm gay!" … No more turbulence. HAHAHAHAHA GREAT COMEDIC MASTERPIECE!

BitterSweet :: I think the bitter in your name is misplaced… because you're just sweet. I'm so glad you came to ff.net, Sarah!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D

Gypsy :: No, you can grrrrrrrrr just as much as you want to……… I grrrrrrrrrrr all the time. :D And ((to steal Mis/Mis's cousin's catchphrase)) go go Jimmy Eat World! I seriously love that CD. Which is evident in how many times I mention them in EVERYTHING. Ha. Whoops. You got a sunburn trying to figure out where my story was going??? Strange… VERY strange… oh wait, this is *you* I'm talking about. ;D LOL j/j!

SweetSixteen :: Thanks for the advice, but oh, just you wait… Relic and Spot… you're gonna find some stuff out soon about the both of them. **Mondie rubs hands together and grins** I just adore knowing where my story is going…

kimimay85 :: That was one of the best reviews you've ever left me. Hahaha! **Mondie says in congratulations: PSEW!** Argh, I couldn't go to the fair tonight because my parents were all, "Didn't you just come back from there?" I was like, "Uh… yeah… but that was for *BAND*" And they still wouldn't let me go! And Chuck asked me to homecoming… I nearly made it too, I was halfway out the junior high parking lot when he came running after me and asked me. So I said yes… there goes KP, I suppose. We'll have to talk about it later. Wanna go to the fair tomorrow? I'll probably call you to see if you'd like to in the afternoon or something, since you work tomorrow night.

Mist :: Ooh, Sierra Dierra, a scary party??? Eeks! Hope it wasn't too bad! Thanks for a review even though you were traumatized! :D

Pegasus :: Yeah, I'm in agreement. Why *can't* things happen like this in real life?? It's tres unfair.

Aki :: Wow! You're so nice! Thanks a bunch. :D Your chapter is coming up soon, I believe.

Holiday :: I know, aren't the number of reviews for this story unbelievable?? How the heck did *this* happen?? And yes, Skitts is a very nice boy to do the laundry… I seem to have this fetish with boys doing housework… quite sexy it is. LOL.

Stress :: I do believe your chappy is next. Don't quote me on that, but I do believe it is true. I'm glad you're hooked!!!!! :D

Hades :: Thanks!!!!!! :D And thank you for the nice review.

Tunes :: There is more of you in this chappy… and you and Snodds are coming up soon too.

Stripes McKee :: Erm … is there any reason at all whatsoever as to why you were singing "Wild Thing" during your review?? LOLOLOL. But thanks!

Dragonfly :: I love "Tiny Dancer" too. Yay early Elton John!!! :D Here's your chappy hun, with your bowler. Hope ya like it!!!!!!!

Kristin :: Thank you!!!!!!!!! :D

Misprint :: I LOVE YOU TOO! LOLOL. I love Skitts too! And I enjoyed smearing Spot with sparkles… I thought he'd like them. HAHAHA. Okay so I knew he wouldn't. Whatev. UPDATE ECLIPSE CUZ MUSHY PROPOSED TO ME AND IT WAS WONDERFUL!

Blinks-Tiger :: Thank you!!!!!!!!! :D Skitts DOES have great hair. And wonderful pink underwear. Haha!

Moody :: Thanks dearie!! :D I enjoyed the spray paint as well.

Shade of Temair :: YAY! I updated! Therefore you and Mis must update ECLIPSE!!! :D AND NO MUSH AND SARAHNESS! AHHHHHHHHHH I COULDN'T HANDLE IT!!! **Mondie screams in retaliation of that HORRIBLE thought you left in the review**

rumor :: Hmm, I wonder just how many "Crimson and Clover" songs there ARE! LOL. That was suchhhhhhhhhh a sweet review you left me! I officially feel loved.

Taffee :: Oh, I'm sure Relic will make SURE he has respect for women before he's through. Thanks for the review!! You get to wear a wig in this chappy. Haha.

Sorrow :: Thanks!! Who recommended it? Thanks to whoever that was, too. You're too kind to me, too kind.

Doll Face :: Thanks!! I liked the quoting too. :D Yay!

Ali :: I love Almost Famous too. LOL I have a habit of making my characters love the same things I do… ::ahem:: Anyhow. And you're right, insane is good. I believe we're all a little insane. Hell, we write Newsies fan fiction. You just can't get much more insane than that. :D

Emu :: AHHHHHHH! Yay you reviewed. I miss talking to you MDLF! How are the llamas? I love The Terrorist and Gallows Hill too!!!!!!!!!!! Have you read "The Gospel According To Larry"?? That's like my favorite book EVER… and "Interview with the Vampire" is really good ((THANKS MISPRINT AND SHADE FOR HOOKING ME ON THAT!!! HAHA))

AND FINALLY… THE STORY!!!!!!!!!!

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 6**

            That Saturday, Relic called a meeting of the Clover Gang at her house. Everyone filed into her roomy Spanish-style home, chattering and giggling amongst themselves. When finally everyone had arrived, Relic stood up on her coffee table (luckily, her mother wasn't home to admonish her) and cleared her throat importantly. The sixteen other girls looked at her expectantly.

            Clapping her hands, she leapt from the table onto the ground lightly. Her violet eyes seemed blue in her excitement. "The plan is _working!" she squealed happily._

            Pegasus, wearing a t-shirt that belonged to Skittery, exchanged a happy glance with Taffee.

            "And do we know who's next in our game?" Relic continued, her eyes flitting across the group as if choosing right then and there, though in her mind she already had the plan all laid out.

            "Who?" blurted Tunes, her bright smile trying to convey to Relic that she was definitely ready for Snoddy.

            Relic didn't seem to notice, and her eyes lit on Dragonfly. "Dragonfly and Snitch!" she said triumphantly.

            Dragonfly let out an excited sound, and a couple girls around her giggled.

            " 'And how are we going to get Dragonfly and Snitch together, oh great leader Relic?' " Relic asked, sitting on the ground next to BonBon and pretending to be another member of the group. Then she jumped to her feet and answered herself, "By planning this all out perfectly, of course, silly member of the gang Relic!" Everyone stared at her for a moment, as if doubting her sanity. Then she let loose with a loud giggle that was contagious.

            "Okay, so the first thing," she said a few minutes later when they'd all calmed down, "is to figure out when exactly we can get Snitch alone from the boys."

            "He practices bowling by himself on Sundays from four to five," volunteered Hades.

            Now everyone stared at her.

            "What?" she asked innocently, throwing up her hands. "I used to work at the bowling lanes."

            "Su-u-ure," said Relic in a sing-song manner, but she laughed to show Hades she was joking. "All right then! Dragonfly, are you free tomorrow from four to five?"

            "Uh… I guess so?" Dragonfly said, not exactly sounding confident in her answer.

            "And can you bowl?" Relic continued, as if checking off items on a list in her brain.

            "Um…" This Dragonfly didn't answer at all. She seemed to be thinking it over. Then she flashed a huge grin, and shrugged. "How hard can it be?"

            Relic laughed, and then began to do a jig through the living room which half resembled a Russian dance from _Fiddler On The Roof and half Irish step-dancing. Giggling, Dragonfly stood up to join her. Everyone else just laughed, secretly glad that __she was the one with the crush on Snitch and not them._

            "But… these shoes are disGUSTing!" protested Dragonfly the next day, raising her eyebrows at the middle-aged man behind the counter. He had a five o'clock shadow, a comb-over, and a beer belly that showed through his soiled, dirty wifebeater. "And I don't _want lane twelve." She peeked over her shoulder. The lanes apparently were not quite a hot spot on Sunday afternoons. Snitch was on lane three, and the only other people in the room were Relic and Taffee, who were on lane one. Of course, the other girls were incognito, wearing long black Cher wigs and speaking with fake European accents._

            Unbeknownst to the girls, Snitch had of course figured out who Relic and Taffee were, and was just enjoying this. He rather liked the feeling of being chased. He sent a crimson bowling ball flying down his alley, gliding effortlessly into the stack of pins and upsetting all of them. He turned back and saw the cute dark-skinned girl, Dragonfly, from the Clover Gang still arguing with Louie, the owner of the lanes.

            "LANE FOUR!" Dragonfly screamed, her dark brown eyes flashing.

            Sighing, Louie finally allowed her to go to her lane. Snitch turned around, flustered, as Dragonfly primly came to the lane next to his and began lacing up her brown and red bowling shoes.

            As Snitch picked up the bowling ball again, he let his mind focus on the little brown arrows and let it fly once more towards the black abyss which was guarded with ten little stationary protectors. He didn't see Relic giving Dragonfly a thumbs-up while Taffee proceeded to blindly heave her own ball down the lane, laughing hysterically when she got three pins.

            The ball decided to take its time coming back, so Snitch leaned back in a chair, sipping a Mountain Dew. He watched as Dragonfly walked painstakingly to the ball carousel and looked at the balls left there by the previous bowler. She grabbed a silvery one and, taking a deep breath (for she knew that Snitch's eyes were on her), hurled it down onto the lane.

            The ball bounced from her lane onto Snitch's. Snitch snorted in laughter, but Dragonfly wouldn't let her embarrassment be shown. She lifted her chin and picked up a light orange ball and threw it too onto her lane. This one didn't bounce off, but merely meandered slowly down the lane as if bored. Nearly a minute later, it finally came to the end of its track. Dragonfly hoped it would hit at least ONE pin.

            Instead, it dropped carelessly into the gutter.

            Snitch's crimson ball had come back up, but he was far too amused by Dragonfly's antics to bowl himself. He watched her laboriously throw ball after ball down the alley. By the time her game was finished, she'd scored 32.

            Relic groaned as she buried her face in her arms. Dragonfly saw this and wanted to do much the same thing. Even Louie seemed greatly disturbed by the lack of obvious bowling talent in the girl.

            Snitch suddenly seemed to realize that he had fallen behind, and picked up his sparkly crimson ball. With ease, it sailed down and he got another strike. Since he'd been playing while Dragonfly had been arguing with Louie, he'd been much farther in the game, and this sealed it. He'd gotten another perfect 300.

            Dragonfly watched him with tears of frustration in her eyes. _It's okay, she tried to tell herself. __You can still impress him. Don't let him see that you're worried. As soon as her computer screen set itself up for another game, she tried to imitate his stance and threw a yellow ball into the lane. It rolled straight into the gutter. She sighed loudly._

            "You're trying too hard." The friendly voice caused her to turn her head in wonder. Snitch stood, his ball tucked into the crook of his arm. "I'm done practicing for today, but if you'd like, I can stay and give you a few pointers."

            Dragonfly felt her face grin, and she nodded happily. "Okay, first of all," Snitch said, nodding his head at her emphatically, "Your stance is _all wrong. Here, impersonate me." He struck a pose. Dragonfly did her best to mimic him. He laughed when she nearly fell over, unstable. He broke out of his stance and moved to her. "No, no, like this." He moved her leg back, positioned her arms. Relic, who was still pretending to bowl with Taffee, squeezed the bowling ball hard in excitement; so much so that the slippery ball slid out of her fingers and crashed to the wooden floors below. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment, but Snitch and Dragonfly were so in tune with each other that neither noticed._

            The same couldn't be said for Louie.

            Two minutes later, Relic and Taffee found themselves outside. "That Louie is too damn protective of his stupid waxed floors," griped Relic. "Now we can't even watch Snitch and Dragonfly."

            Snitch and Dragonfly didn't seem to miss the other girls quite as equally. "So this is really your first time bowling since you were five and used bumpers?" Snitch laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

            Dragonfly laughed too. "I didn't know how else to get your attention," she confessed, in a rare quiet moment.

            "No girl has EVER done anything like that for me before," Snitch said, testing different balls' weight. "Here, you've been using ones that are too heavy for you. Try this one." He handed her his own sparkly crimson bowling ball. "But be careful, she's my baby."

            "She?" teased Dragonfly, taking the lighter ball from his arms and looking at it.

            "She's won me all sorts of matches. I'd never be anywhere without my Natasha."

            Dragonfly froze. Natasha was _her real name. "Natasha?" she said, blinking, trying to figure out if it was all a big coincidence._

            Snitch laughed a little. "Let's just say that you didn't need to come bowling this afternoon to get my attention. You've had it since eighth grade."

            Dragonfly delicately laid Natasha in with the other bowling balls from the lane, and then put her arms around Snitch's neck. Smiling, he let his hands tangle in her long black hair before leaning in to gently kiss her lips.

            And so the third couple of the Crimson and Clover Gangs was formed.


	7. Oops I Did It Again :Divinity and Race

Shoutouts!! Thanks for all the reviews, you guys. You're golden. I love you all! Muah!

**Hades *~* Thank you!!!!! Sorry I've made you wait so long. I've been stressing out MAJOR. Argh. School sucks and college searching sucks and doing bad in AP classes REALLY sucks! Haha. Hope you like this chappy.**

**Braces *~* Thanks! I hope you had a good dinner. ^_^ LOL!**

**Blinks-Tiger *~* **Mondie huggles Tigey** T'anks! I liked all those parts too. Heh. I'm such a modest author… anyhow. I especially enjoyed Relic's pretending to be 2 people cuz it's something I would do… sadly…**

**Raider *~* Thanks dearie! More's here. WAHOO!**

**Moody *~* Sheesh! Who're YOU to be ordering ME around?? LOLOLOL j/j. Sorry it takes so long, but feel free to refer up to Hades' shoutout. I'm going spastic over here. And then it's hard to come back and write happy fluffy fiction. I think that's why I enjoy writing Growth so much… hmmm.**

**Ashley *~* Bwahaha that was all part of my evil plan! To get YOU specifically hooked!!! LOL okay so I don't know you or anything… but whatev! Thanks for reading. :D**

**Stress *~* Okay. Don't kill me for this chappy. I swear, you WILL get with Itey. He's just being… stubborn. But keep faith in me! You're going to have one of the sweetiest chappies yet. **Mondie huggles Stress and Itey** Oooh, I can't wait to write it… just you wait. Oh, and you do get SOME fun parts in this chappy. Of course!**

**Sobe a Lizard *~* Ah, I enjoyed the bit of dancing. I'll join in. **Mondie dances around some with Mush** Oh, my own bowling skills SUCK… like colassally… ((That's not a word, but I've decided it should be.)) The last time I went bowling I got a 42 and a 40. At least I'm consistent in my horribleness…**

**Tunes *~* I know! Sneaky Snitch. The li'l devil. Ah, we love him anywayz though. Even if he DOES sleep with Itey. Which I'm still confused about, btw… weirdos.**

**BitterSweet *~* You're such a (bitter)sweetie! :D Thank you so much for all your review, Sarah. I heart you muchly!**

**lange *~* Wahoo, I think this is shoutout #3 for you, isn't it?? :D Oh don't worry, KB and Mush will have their moments too. I think I may have Mush do some cutey cute cute things soon, even though he and Hades' chapter isn't for a while. ^_^ I heart Mushy Darling. He's so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute.**

**Tuffy *~* Aw, you KNOW I heart you Tuffy!!!!!! I'll read your story sometime… I promise… keep reminding me. I just have so little time right now… GAH. I still have to start Gypsy's sequel story… and catch up on Mis's stories… ACK!!!!!! I think I'm going insane. Maybe that will make me a better writer. Or maybe not.**

**Slick *~* I know! I can't figure out why this story gets so many reviews. ((shrug)) Not that I'm complaining!!!! It makes me HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY to see so many! Yeah, I have a lot of Homework From High Hell tonight… and I work… it's not going to be very fun at my house this evening. But I wanted to post this today, so there ya go.**

**Dragonfly *~* I'm glad you liked your chappy. :D Wahoo! I'm glad you straightened things out with Bowler too so that he takes you over his bowling ball. LOLOL! Take good care of that bowler of yours. You get some Snitchy fun in this chappy. HOO HA!**

**Pegasus *~* WAHOO I'M A LIFESAVER! I hope I'm a lime or cherry one. Those are my favey-daveys. ^_^ How is school? Mine sucks. I HATE IT. I'm ready to graduate RIGHT NOW. Forget my senior year, it's sucking so far. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.**

**Gypsy *~* HAHAHA for the teacher almost running away from you! That's awesome. Unfortunately, almost all my teachers either know me or knew my brother, so they find me fairly normal. I find that odd. The part with the second casting call… I think it's chappy 9. But who knows, this chappy was SUPPOSED to be all Itey/Stress and it turned out half Race/Divinity. So much for my Great Plan O' The Story.**

**misprint *~* My brother thinks I'm crazy too. HOO HA! LOLOL. HAHAHA I'm glad he ran from the room screaming. My brother came home last night to get some compie thing for his frat room and it made me happy cuz I hardly ever see him. :D I'd join the Clover Gang too if it was at my school. Especially if I got Mush. ((Mush is gonna have the most ADORABLE part EVER in this story. I'm so excited for it.)) LOLOL: "This is the coolest chapter besides all the other chapters!" You crack me up, Mis!!!!!!!!!! And my carefully thought out plot… yeah, it disintegrated again. I suck at the planned plot thingy. I really, really do. I HAVEN'T SEEN ROAD TO EL DORADO! It made me mad that they don't sing in it so I didn't watch it. ^_^ LOL I'm kinda insane. Oooh look, now I've made it to the line that separates the pages in Microsoft Word and right now I'm writing on the second page of shoutouts!!!! WAHOO! And I still have quite a few to go so I'm gonna wrap this up now. Oh, but in your review you were singing "And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII will always love you…" Yeah, I was singing that in the band room today after lunch except I was singing it to myself… so I was singing "And IIIIIIIIIIIIIII will always love meeeeeeee…" Mr. Sloan (band director) came out of his office and he pulled the whole "Who sings that? …Then let them sing it." I fall for that one every time… I'm quite gullible. Dang, this was a loud shoutout. If I were actually shouting, I would be hoarse.**

**kimimay85 *~* Hahaha, I like how you always insist that the girl beside the lockers is named Adele and that she's gonna have a major role… even though I'm gonna have you IN there… LOLOL you crack me up kid. I miss Curt too. :( Have the guys figured out where we're going to eat before homecoming? Do you know if it's just gonna be the four of us or if others are tagging along, like Stace and Crystal et al? Hmmm. :/ Yay for Fiddler On The Roof… tres exciting! SICK I HATE FRENCH!**

**Aki *~* Thank you sooooooooooooo much! You're so sweet. I forget which chappy is yours, but I believe it's coming up soon. Maybe. Maybe I'm hallucinating. Who knows. ^_^**

**Drama-Queen *~* You're in luck, we get two pairings this chappy… well, almost… okay, well one "we know they're gonna end up together" pairing and one "paired together" pairing. YAY!**

**Taffee *~* Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I agree, Snitch is a cutie. **Mondie giggles** Yay Snitchness!**

**Katy *~* Thanks! Wahoo! I'm glad you won't stalk me. Although it wouldn't be too bad if I had a stalker whose name happened to be Aaron Lohr and he didn't mind me calling him Mush Portman…**

**Ali *~* I'm your hero? REALLY?? **Mondie claps hands until Mush slaps her on the back of the head and shakes his own head that Mondie is not REALLY Ali's hero** WAHOO! TWO THUMBS UP!!!!!!!!! I'se excited for that. Which is odd of me. I'll shut up now.**

**rumor *~* Yeah, don't ask me what I was thinking… actually, I think Joan Jett DOES have a song called "Crimson and Clover"… I often talk about things I actually have NO knowledge of. Haha I'm weird like that. Just ignore me when I pretend to be smart. Yes, insanity IS good! Wahoo! And so is… uh… chocolate? MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM And MUSH covered in chocolate is even BETTER…… ::ahem:: Anyhow, I *do* enjoy the song on Jimmy Eat World's CD… it makes me laugh. WAHOO FOR THE RUN-ON REVIEW YOU LEFT! YAYNESS! I dunno what it is about the bowling shoes, but I personally find them gross, so I decided that Dfly would too. :D Hahaha. Yay for Cher wigs! I was very much so into a Will & Grace moment then. I heart when Cher is on that show and Jack is all nutso… great great GREAT fun! Don't worry, you don't frighten me—I have ecology/genetics seventh period with SPORT who is this kid that is frightening beyond belief. So don't you worry. I find you incredibly normal.**

**Holiday *~* Aloha! School IS very ick. Grrrrrrrr to school. I'm leading a boycott at mine. I'm striking out against school. Haha don't pay any attention to the fact that we're only, oh, a month into school. Not even a month. Three weeks maybe? Ah well, I'm already sick to death of it.**

**Divinity *~* Ahem, I've moved your chappy up. Uh, here ya go! Hahahaha. Hope ya don't mind. You were originally towards the back of the group (as are most of the "main character" newsies) like in the late teen chapters, but I needed another plot line and I just picked you cuz you're wicked awesome. Haha! Hope ya like it… don't hate me… ^_^**

**Court Jester *~* All is at peace?? No way! Our war is SO still on! LOLOL I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't add millions of quotes to my bio in my profile! I swear, I'm listening to Rent WAY too much… everyone's so sick of me… I just love Angel to bits… I wanna marry him. Well, I don't want AIDS, but ya know… Angel's a sweetie. And he buys the coat for Collins and he sings "I'll Cover You" and it's SOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE! AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. **Mondie huggles Angel** **Then Mondie remembers that this is a NEWSIES story** ::ahem:: Sorry 'bout that. You actually read my mind goilie, there IS a bit of a hardship here… poor Stress. But it will all turn out nicely in the end CUZ I SAY SO! Oooh, Breakfast Club! I heart Brian. He's such a sweetie. :D Yay yay yay! And Emilio Estevez… he was in Mighty Ducks 2 and 3 with my baby…**

**Vix *~* Wow! Thanks so much!!! I doubt that it's the best, but still, it's really kind of you to say that! :D**

**lindi *~* Keep reminding me to read your story. I've got so many to read, I might forget otherwise. LOL! Thanks for the three reviews!!!!!!!! Mush is my favey-davey too. **Mondie huggles Mushy Darling** He's soooooooo adorable!**

**Mist *~* I must say that I myself am enjoying the perfectness of this story. It makes my own life look even MORE pathetic by comparison, but it's still nice to divulge myself into this.**

**jsgirl2005 *~* Thank you! Sorry it takes me so long. Refer up to Hades' shoutout (the first one) if you'd really like to hear me complain about my lack of time. ;D LOL! Which I'm sure you don't! But oh well.**

**Ace *~* Thanks!!!!!! Of course I've written more. I haven't abandoned this baby yet. I wouldn't! LOL I heart it too much! **Mondie huggles story****

**falco *~* yeah, ff.net has officially gone INSANE… I swear! LOLOL Okay, so I really don't read anything but Newsies and occasionally Harry Potter or Swing Kids ff, but it's really weird that they don't have music artists and stuff anymore. :/ I'm glad I'm not like a Jimmy Eat World author or something, I'd be way pissed. Stupid ff.net going crazy!**

**Author's Note: I know I promised Stress that this would be her chappy, but things took a weird slide. Don't be upset with me Stress! You WILL get Itey. I swear. It's just gonna be a cuter story because it's gonna evolve through other chappies. So yes. This chapter actually has TWO storylines, but I just put Race and Div in the chappy title because they're the ones who get hooked up. Stress, your time is coming! REALLY! Thanks for understanding, Muah! Also, the place where Race and Div work is based off of Kimi and my place of employment, The Orchard Tree. Some things are made up and different from the actual restaurant, but things like the layout are the same. So sorry if things aren't described very well… yell at me and I'll try to be more clearer. :D**

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 7**

            "Snitch, this is Stress." Dragonfly smiled slyly as she introduced her new boyfriend to one of her best friends.

            "Hi, Stress," Snitch said, smiling at the girl. Dragonfly's friend had striking yellowish green eyes, which instantly reminded Snitch of his tabby cat, Chelsea.

            "And guess who Stress would be perfect for?" Dragonfly continued.

            "Uh…" Snitch really had no idea what his girl was going at. "Santa Claus?"

            Dragonfly giggled and kissed his nose. "No! Itey, you silly!"

            Snitch shook his head. "I know you girls think you're all gonna hook up with a Crimson Gang member, but Itey's not gonna go for it."

            Dragonfly pulled him away from Stress, her eyes wide. "Is he gay?" she asked in a whisper.

            Snitch let out a barking laugh. "No! But he's my best friend, and I know him better than anyone. He says that he's gonna focus on his golf and his studies. He really wants to get into a good college, and he's convinced himself that that means NO GIRLS."

            Dragonfly stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "Does that mean you're not gonna help me hook him up with Stress?"

            Snitch laughed at the puzzled look on her face. "Sorry, doll, but no."

            Dragonfly sighed, then pouted. "Well, then you get to tell Stress."

            Stress was standing alone, waiting patiently for them to finish their hushed conversation. Sighing, Snitch turned back and told Stress what he'd just told Dragonfly.

            Stress's face fell, then, bravely, she shrugged. "Could you at least introduce me to him? So I can at least… I don't know, get to be friends with him?" She shook her long blonde-brown hair, curly, over her shoulder. It was something she only did when she was upset.

            Snitch felt bad for having to break this news, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Sure. Actually," he said, checking his wristwatch, "He should be home by now. Why don't we head over to his place?"

***

            Racetrack stood at the large metal dishwasher, singing loudly along with the pop song that blared over the kitchen's radio. This was the job he hated most of all at the restaurant he worked at, The Tree In The Orchard. Usually he was a busser, and it was quite nicer, especially with the interaction. As a dishwasher, he only got to hang out with the cooks, and occasionally the bussers, when they came back to unload their carts full of dishes; bussers got to correlate with every coworker in the restaurant. But he was the kind of person who didn't mind anything too much, and he'd rather get a laugh out of his coworkers than moan and complain about his life. The song changed to Britney Spears' "Oops! …I Did It Again." Race grinned. This was his favorite song at work, because he had dance movements for it and everyone would come watch whenever it came on.

            Sure enough, the cooks hustled over as fast as they could, and Racetrack began his routine, sliding on the wet ground. A few waitresses who had come early and hadn't clocked on yet stood there laughing too, and Race grinned, in his element.

            "OOPS!" he screamed along with the song when it reached the chorus. "I did it again! I played with your heart, got lost in the game!" Laughing, he threw in some dirty gestures as he sang the next lines: "Oh baby, baby!" The waitresses rolled their eyes and left to the back room again, as they often did when he got dirty, but John and Tim, the two cooks on duty, cracked up. "Oops! You think I'm in love, that I'm sent from abo-o-o-ove, I'm not," _pelvic thrust, "that," __pelvic thrust, "innocent!"_

            Suddenly, as he went into a spin, he saw a pair of large brown, familiar eyes, peeking at him from inside the managers' office. He lost his balance, fell, and went sliding across the soaking floor on his butt. John and Tim found _that even funnier than his earlier antics._

            Divinity stepped out of the office, holding her new time card. The manager that evening, Kristen, followed her. John and Tim, under the scathing eyes of Kristen, hurried back up to their cooking station. "This is our new waitress, Becca," Kristen told him, noticing the two looking at each other, almost confused.

            "Divinity," Becca corrected instantly.

            "Hi." Racetrack felt an unfamiliar flushing of his cheeks. He usually didn't get embarrassed. But a member of the Clover Gang? Watching him fall? He turned back to his dishes, hoping fervently that she wasn't supposed to be his match, that this wasn't some scheme dreamed up by that insane leader to get the girl with him. He tried to convince himself if was just coincidence. He didn't want to have just made a fool out of himself in front a girl who supposedly liked him. …Though, Divinity wouldn't be a bad choice for a Clover Gang girlfriend…

            Divinity went to follow Kristen up to the front of the restaurant, but she smiled at Race as she went by. "I liked your dance," she said softly, a blush which matched his flaming her cheeks.

***

            "Itey lives _here?" Dragonfly stared up at the house in amazement. It was gigantic. Stress swallowed, much in the same awe as Dragonfly._

            "Yeah," Snitch agreed, looking up at the house. He spent so much time there, it didn't seem as amazing now as it had when he'd become friends with Itey in second grade. He did know that it was a bit overwhelming, though. Itey always wore vintage clothing, and drove a '96 Ford truck. He liked to hide the fact that he was rich.

            Snitch walked up and rang the doorbell, which echoed through the expansive mansion. A lady wearing a black skirt and a blue shirt opened the door. "Hello, Dee," she said with a smile.

            "Hi, Maria!" Snitch answered.

            Dragonfly and Stress exchanged a look. Dee? And he called Itey's mom by her first name?

            "Is Itey here?"

            "Yeah, I think he's somewhere. Shoes off at the door please, girls, so I don't have mud to clean up later," Maria said pleasantly.

            The girls took off their sandals. Snitch had already taken his off, and was striding down the hall purposefully. The girls followed slowly, gawking at the artwork on the walls.

            "Is that a…" Dragonfly stopped in front of one, staring. She couldn't finish.

            Snitch backtracked and looked up at it. "Picasso? Yeah. Now, c'mon!" He grabbed the girls' arms and tugged them along, screaming for Itey.

            "In here, man!" Itey called.

            "Hey, I've brought some girls." Snitch led the two females into a room to the left, which turned out to be Itey's bedroom.

            "Hey, who let you in? Mom?"

            "No, I think your mom's still at work. Maria let us in," Snitch answered.

            "Maria isn't Itey's mom?" Stress blurted.

            Itey and Snitch laughed. "No, the maid," Snitch answered. "Well, one of them."

            Itey looked over at how Dragonfly was hanging on Snitch's arm, and then saw how Stress was watching himself with interest. "Hey, Snitch, didn't you…" he began in a low voice.

            "I know that you don't want a girlfriend, Itey," Stress spoke up. She tossed her hair again. "I just… I think you're an interesting person, and I'd like to get to know you better. Is that okay?"

            Itey sighed in relief. "Yeah, sure!" he answered, smiling at her. "What do you guys wanna do?"

            "Just hang," Dragonfly said, not taking her eyes off Snitch.

            " 'Just hang,' huh?" Itey laughed to Stress a few minutes later. Dragonfly and Snitch were draped across his bed, making out as if it were the last time they'd see each other for a year. Stress and Itey were sitting on the floor, a huge bowl of popcorn between them.

            "We should've known better than to let Dragonfly pick the afternoon's activity," giggled Stress, chewing on some of the snack.

            "Wanna go walk around or something?" Itey suggested, ignoring the sighs and moans from his bed. "I could show you my golf course."

            "You have your own golf course," Stress said in amazement. "Of course you do." Stupefied, she followed him out of his room and down some twisting hallways out onto the back deck/patio. There were outdoor recreations, such as a hot tub and a swimming pool and a tennis court right near the back of the house. And stretching as far as her eyes could see was beautiful, perfectly manicured lawn. Stress corrected her thoughts: not a lawn. A golf course.

            "We've got two hired guys whose job is just to take care of the course," Itey told her. "I think Chris must be off today, because that's his golf cart." He pointed over to where two golf carts sat. "Mine's the blue one. Special-ordered by Phil." He rolled his eyes. "Phil is my stepdad from hell who buys everything."

            "Oh." Stress didn't really know what to say. Itey's face was unreadable, but she thought she could see the pain in his eyes. She took off across the grass, covering the area quickly.

            "Where are you going?" Itey asked.

            Her eyes glinted mischieviously as she climbed on the plain beige golf cart. "Ready to race me?"

            Itey laughed out loud. "Chris and Mark will kill me. Phil, too, if I tear up the course."

            "Well, what could you do?" Stress asked satirically. "Stress just took off when she found keys left irresponsibly in the golf cart. What a silly girl, you _had to follow her, of course." She revved the engine of the golf cart and raised her eyebrows at him. "See ya later, Itey." She brought her foot down on the accelerator._

            Itey laughed, then jumped on his cart and took off after her.

***

            Race grabbed the Windex and paper towels. "I'll wipe the sneeze guards for you," he offered.

            Marcia, the waitress training Divinity, flashed him a quick and fake smile. "Good. I'll go take care of the iced tea. Take all the spoons out of these dishes, Divinity. Put them in this bucket." Stomping off, she left the two at the salad bar.

            "So how do you like it here?" Racetrack asked, spritzing the glass panels over the salad bar and wiping one off. Divinity began to take the spoons out of the cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, croutons, cheese, dressing, and then the salad tongs.

            "It's not too bad," she answered, smiling to herself. Relic's idea to get a job at Racetrack's place of employment had been golden.

            Race walked to the other side of the bar and glanced through the glass. A view of Divinity, though distorted from the liquid still residing on the glass panel, was still beautiful. He wiped the Windex off and she became even more sparklingly stunning. Her brown hair spilled over her shoulders and glistened in the fluorescent glare of the lights. Most of the girls looked absolutely atrocious in the canary yellow polo shirts that were waitress and busser required attire, but Divinity looked… well, divine.

            "Here." He grabbed the bucket, now full of utensils, from her hands. "I'll go wash these." He smiled at her.

            "Thanks," she told him, biting her lower lip in happiness.

            The pop song blaring in the back of the kitchen, in the dishwashing station, was Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You." Racetrack sang along loudly into the nozzle of the overhanging high-power sprayer. He didn't even mind when he accidentally squeezed the handle to it, spraying himself in the face with hot water.

            Nothing could ruin his night anymore.

            Divinity came up, hustling with a big bowl of salad. She went into the walk-in freezer and dumped it in the large barrel o' lettuce, then walked shyly over to Racetrack. "Will you rinse this for me?" she asked, tactfully trying not to notice the fact that his face was sopping wet and that he was singing along, high as a soprano, with Darren Hayes.

            "Only if you'll go out with me on Friday," Racetrack said with a wink. "We can go after work if you're still training then."

            Divinity smiled. "I'd love to."

            Race whistled as he rinsed out the tiny pieces of lettuce and carrots that stuck to the plastic bowl, then handed it back to Divinity, who brushed her hair back from her face in a hurried motion and, with a flit of a wave from her fingertips, headed back up to the front of the restaurant in elation.

Until she fell on the wet floor and slid across on her butt, much as he had earlier. The look of shock on her face was priceless, and Race doubled over in laughter.

            No, nothing could ruin his night at all.


	8. Love me tender :Tunes and Snodds

**GOOD FRIGGIN LORD!!!**

**Do you guys have any idea how absofrigginlutely wonderful you all are?? I am seriously in shock! To get even ten reviews a chapter would be amazing, but here we are at chapter 8, and I've already gotten over TWO FREAKIN HUNDRED reviews!! I'd like to say a BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG thank you to ALL of you who have reviewed, and those of you who have suggested this story as reading for your friends. You're all too kind to me!!!! But thanks SO MUCH!!!!**

**Shoutouts…**

**Rae Kelly )( I always love my endings of my chappies, too. LOL I always save the best info for the very last, and I tend to cut it off quickly after dropping something. HOO HA! LOL. Thanks for the review!**

**Braces )( Oh, your time will come, dearie! LOL! I'm not sure when, because I *believe* that Blinky is near the end of the story… but you WILL have something wonderful. As soon as I think of it. Thanks for the reviews.**

**Slick )( I'd be jealous of my reviews if I weren't getting them too! How the heck am I getting all these?! I am in shock! LOL. Erm… well, I *almost* hurried with this chappy… right now Growth and Will I? are pretty much the only stories in my head taking precedence, so I MADE myself sit down and write this. Just for all of you!! :D Thanks for the review.**

**Tunes )( Ho hum… wonder who's chappy THIS is?? That's right! Whoo whoo, this is one of my personal favey-davies. You'll see why when you get to who helps you get Snoddy's heart. HOO HA!!!!!! Thanks for the review!**

**Raider )( Ah, we all do embarrassing things… hehe! I'd love to live in Itey's house too! I am tres jealous of his house. That's why I liked writing about it. Hehehe! Thanks for your suggestion, but don't you worry, I have got a plan ALL WORKED OUT for you and Eldy. OHHHHH! It's gonna be SOOOOOO good. Just you wait! Thanks for the reviews!**

**Stress )( Oh, you'll persuade Itey soon enough, believe me! Not in this chappy, but you *do* get to make an appearance with the boy wonder. :D Yay yay yay! This makes me happy. I loved the Brit-Brit scene as well, I kinda based it off these two people I know who made up this dance to "Oops!"… it was good fun, we all learned all the (dirty) movements to it during summer gym. :D Thanks for the review hun!!!**

**Dragonfly )( Haha you and bowler… you crack me up hun! :D Yeah, you and "Bowler" have officially been nominated the PDA Couple Of The Gangs. Haha! Thanks for the review!**

**Tuffy )( Thanks!! :D I enjoy the hyphenated spelling of my name. It made me giggle and be happy. :D :D :D Thanks for the review!**

**Ali )( Wahoo, I heart winning awards! :D LOLOL. I agree with the whole purpose thing! There's nothing that makes me happier than when one of my favey-davey stories gets updated. :D WOW, thanks for all the "Mondie is a genius"s!!! Yay for boosts for my self-esteem. Lord knows I need it! Thanks for the review.**

**Gypsy )( Oh, chill out, homie G ((YAY NINETIES SLANG!))! It's only one more chappy. Hahaha j/j! Thanks for the ego boost. :D :D :D :D I think that's my favey-davey part of reading my reviews. Haha is that a bad thing????? ;D Thanks for the review Gyps!!**

**Vix )( Actually, my friend Kimi and I were discussing that shortly after I began writing this story, and we decided that it seemed like it was set in California… don't ask me, but we both kinda felt that way. So they wouldn't have NY accents. It's kinda like a nice break to get to write normal dialogue for my boys, and not have to throw in apostrophes and hyphens and random letters into places they're not supposed to go so that my spell check goes insane. ;D LOL! Thanks for the review!!!**

**Shade of Temair )( Update? Please? ;D Thanks for the review hun!!!**

**Sobe a Lizard )( Yay yay for golf carts!! Have you uploaded your story yet dahling and I keep overlooking it??? Actually Spot isn't even in this chappy… he'll make an appearance soon though. **Mondie grins wickedly** Oh, you can bet on it. GOOOOOOOO D2!!!!!!! "Eatin' ice cream with the enemy, huh Coach?" -- That is perhaps one of the most beautiful lines ever said. Besides "So how'dja sleep, Jack?" Thanks for the review!**

**lange )( I love Wally-Frank! I totally put him in my story "No Day But Today". Only the other NMLers got it. I found it funny personally. How could Patty think that Newsies is gay??? AHH! She must have her head examined right away. And no Clover Gang?? That's so sad. :D LOL! Hey, and so there, I already updated Growth! Bwaha, beatcha to the catch. Thanks for the review!**

**Drama-Queen )( Thanks! I'll definitely check out your stories if I get the chance anytime soon. :D Thanks for the review!**

**kimimay85 )( LOL, it's SUPPOSED to be totally our work! :D Except now that Tom's leaving, no one will be as nice as Race-the-dishwasher is to Div-the-waitress. LOL WOW it's been a long time since you left that review… It's almost sad! *tear* Thanks for the review hun!!!**

**rumor )( I love Will & Grace. It's so fresh and cute. :D Yay for good shows! I heart Thursdays. Nope, no one at the Orchard Tree (my actual place of employment) dances to Britney… story device… but it's based on two of my friends, Andy and Peltz. I fall all the time at work! I've never slid all the way across the floor though, and luckily I've been holding dishes. I fell once in water, and once in grease ((LOVELY)). Of course I don't mind your long-windedness! You're trying to beat out me and Mis for our long reviews, aren't ya?? LOL! Thanks for the review.**

**Moody )( Thanks so much!!!!! You're a sweetie. Thanks for the review!**

**Gemini Kelly )( You are so friggin awesome!!!!! All your compliments are MUCHLY (MUSHLY) appreciated. **Mushy nods** Off topic, I'm so excited for your part in No Day but Today… we're talking about the 20s right now in English, totally randomly, and I get so excited cuz I'm getting ALL these ideas for my story!!!!!! WHOO WHOO! Thanks for the review Gem! ((Let's get a conspiracy together to get Mis and Shade to update Eclipse, shall we??))**

**Mist )( Gotta say, I'm right up there with ya as an obsessive-compulsive-man-I-love-romances chick. LOL! Thanks for the review Misty!**

**Blinks-Tiger )( Haha, I liked how you could summarize my entire chapter in like three words. ;D Thanks for the review Tig!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Sugar )( WOW! On the whole ff.net?! You're friggin too nice! Thank you so much, though!!! And thanks for the review. :D :D :D**

**WhatAboutBreakfast )( **Mondie blinks** WOW! Thanks so much. I love your name, it's very creative! :D Haha. Thanks for the review!!!!**

**misprint )( I'm willing to share the run-on review. LOL! :D Yeah, we got a little song "Crimson and Clover" action all up in here (Today's tendency is to type as if I am Miss Thang and a gangsta, so please forgive me)! I burst into random song and dance all the time. Everyone is generally very annoyed with me at all times. Haha that wasn't very nice to call Snitch a moron. **Mondie looks possessive, even tho Snitch is one of her least-favey-daveys** **Snitch looks insulted** **Mush looks bored** Thanks Mis, I love your reviews. You're tres wonderful!!!!!!!! Mappy mappy mappy mappy mappy!!! Thanks for the review ever so much, dahling!**

**Aki )( I hate washing dishes! LOL I think that's why I made Race hate it so much. Not actually because of the lack of interaction like he claimed, but because washing dishes SUCKS. Haha! Thanks for the review!!**

**Emu )( MDLF- You're right, I am a lurker! **Mondie hangs head** In fact, I'm worse than a lurker, because my email filled up with NML and I had to get a new account and I haven't changed my account email yet. Don't hit me! LOLOL. I'm glad the llamas are good. Thanks for the review!**

**Ace )( Thanks!!! :D I loved the end of the last chapter, too. Thanks for the reviews!**

**The Omniscient Bookseller )( DID YOU REALLY USE "MAPPY" THREE TIMES IN ONE DAY IN REGULAR CONVERSATION?!?!?! That is the best thing I have ever heard (besides Mushy Darling's WONDERFUL singing voice, of course)!!!!! That is so… for lack of a better word, mappy, that I can't even tell you!!!! AHHH! Thanks for the review, Omni!!!!**

**Court Jester )( I can't believe Rent is almost done. NOOO! You're not allowed to end it. How about you go back and fix it so that BLINK is Angel and Mush is Collins and then Mushy won't die! Thanks for the review hun!**

**Taffee )( Thanks!!! :D Sorry you haven't had much of a part lately… it will change soon, with any luck. There's just so many of y'all! LOL. Thanks for the review!**

**Divinity )( You're welcome goilie! I'm glad you liked it. :D That's always what I worry about—that the person it's about, won't like their chappy. Thanks for the review, Div!**

**Sorrow )( Thanks!! And tell Taffee thanks for me for telling you about the story. Word of mouth is my best publicity! Thanks for the review!!**

**falco )( You won't get much added Spot with the DVD, he's only in the school portion (which is hosted by MY SWEETIE in the See All About It feature). I know, Kimi was complaining about it. Lots of goils wanna be Spot's, but Relic got to me first that night after I announced my casting call. LOL! Thanks for the review!!**

**Lindi )( I love Mush as well!!! And the ice cream line… I've already quoted it twice today. I believe that is perhaps one of Aaron's most fantastical lines EVER. If you'd really like a story, send me your profile. I've had another idea for a songfic in my head… I'm not sure though, and I don't know when I'd get it written (I have ZERO time lately) but if you'd like me to write something with you and Mushy Darling, send a profile to my email!! :D Thanks for the review!**

**Klips )( Heh, guess what! It's on ff.net! Hahahaha. Thanks for the compliments, and for the review!!!! :D**

**Merlin's Quill )( Nope, not Itey and Stress just yet… soon, though. :D Patience, grasshopper. ((Don't ask why that just popped into my head, cuz I have no idea.)) Thanks for the review!**

**Frenchy )( Thanks!! :D Is your name influenced by Grease in any way? Thanks for the review!**

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 8**

            Tunes sighed as she listened to Divinity telling all the Clover Gang girls about her training at the restaurant, and Race's cuteness. It wasn't that Tunes necessarily didn't like the story. It's just that she was anxious to get her OWN love story started.

            She looked over to her right, and felt a little bit more subdued. Sitting glumly on the floor, with her legs pulled up to her chest and a forlorn look on her face, was Stress. Dragonfly was watching her, looking worried. All of the girls had been worried about Stress, since Itey had decided that friends-only was the way to go. As Relic put it, "Don't they have it figured out yet that we're all gonna be dating them? Why are they even putting up a fight against it?" Then she had begun to sing a snappy little song she'd decided would be their theme song (which, purely coincidental, had been made up by Relic herself) which they were all trying desperately to forget. It went along the lines of, "We want our men / We wear dark green / Spot is the cutest / boy ever seen."

            Relic now stood on the picnic table, holding her yogurt up as if it were a scepter. "Clover Gang! I announce our newest couple to be formed—TUNES AND SNODDY!"

            Tunes nearly fell over in shock, and happiness. Relic sat back down and looked smug. "So here's how you're gonna get Snodds, Tunes…"

            French 4 came much too slowly that day. The girls filtered in quickly after lunch, and were all sitting primly in seats by the time Mush and Snoddy sauntered in. The two boys looked confused at the lack of activity in the room, but judging that it was a "female thing," shrugged it off. Mush felt a wave of excitement rush through his veins. He knew that one of the girls in the room _had to like him, and he was wondering desperately who it was. By the unease and tension in the room, he figured today would be his day._

            There were only two empty desks left, and Mush sat down in the front one. He noticed that transfer student, Tunes, looking quite nervous in the desk next to his. He smiled to himself. His lucky day.

            He noticed that she was quite pretty, and flashed her an easygoing grin. She smiled back, a little reluctantly, at him. Snoddy had by now taken the seat behind Mush, and had bent over, letting his longish hair fall in his eyes while he attempted to get a few minutes' sleep before class.

            Mush leaned over to Tunes' desk, and grabbed one of her hands. She looked at him, a little frightened. He cleared his throat. He had one of the best voices in school, dammit, and he was going to share it.

            "My gift is my so-o-o-ong," he sang lightly, his lips pursing. A giggle went through the room, but this didn't deter Mush. He just grinned all the wider, his smile gigantic. Relic couldn't contain herself and went into gales of laughter, but Mush just figured that this was because he had figured out their plan. Tunes was beginning to look horrified, which confused him just a tad. He hadn't thought that she was the shy type before. He shrugged, and continued to sing. "…And this one's for you. And you can tell everybody that this is your song."

            "Mush! Stop!" Tunes said, her mouth making a perfect O of shock. "I'm not the one who likes you!"

            "What?" Mush asked, horror crossing his face. "Whaddya mean? Of course you are."

            "No, I'm not," Tunes answered. She looked flustered as she grabbed her hand back from him.

            "But… but…" Mush sputtered.

            Tunes shook her head, then jerked it back and over a few times towards Snoddy's slumbering frame. Mush continued to look confused for a moment, then gasped when he understood. "Aw, _man…"_

            "I'm sorry," Tunes apologized meekly. "I mean, I do think you're cute and all. Just not…"

            "American Eagle cute," Mush continued.

            Snoddy's head snapped up at the mention of one of his modeling employers. "Huh?" he asked, his voice thick with exhaustion. He'd had a late night the previous night, doing a summer clothing layout for the Gap.

            "Nothing, Snodds. Go back to sleep," Mush answered.

            "Okay," Snoddy agreed, letting his head fall back onto his arms. Mush rolled his eyes.

            Relic looked thoughtful. "Say, Mush," she said softly, so she didn't alert Snoddy. "Whaddya say to helping us hook up Tunes and … him?"

            Mush shrugged. "Is it almost my turn to get one of you lovely ladies?"

            "Uh… sure," Relic answered, even though for her schedule, Mush was one of the last boys she planned on hooking up. She was well aware of Mush's big mouth, and knew that he'd blab to the other members of his gang who liked who. And where would the fun be in that?

            "Then I guess I can help you," Mush said slowly.

            Relic looked over to make sure that Snoddy was still asleep, then she began to tell Mush in a low voice what their plan of action really was.

            After school, Stress caught sight of Itey. She sighed and tried to walk past him quickly, to get the stinging rejection over with. Much to her surprise, however, Itey fell into step beside her.

            "Hey, Stress. Ya wanna come over and have some ice cream or something with me?" he asked angelically, his smile wide and innocent and perfectly platonic.

            "Don't you have your guy friends to hang out with?" she asked in exasperation. It was true that she had been the one who'd wanted to be at least friends, but she'd quickly figured out that that hurt almost as much as no Itey at all.

            "Yeah, well, Snitch usually comes over, but… ya know…" Itey jerked his head backwards, and Stress caught sight of Dragonfly and Snitch already all over each other.

            She gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I know," she agreed. "And I'd be happy to join you for ice cream."

            Davey stopped Snoddy in the hallway. "Heya, Snodds. Need any help with French?"

            Snoddy turned his head and sighed. "Yeah, but I don't know how awake I am."

            Davey smiled. "Ah, that's all right. Go on up to the French room, I'll be there as soon as I put away my AP Calculus book." 

            Snoddy nodded, and headed up the stairs to the French room. He saw that the door was closed and the lights were off, and wondered if the door had been locked for the night already. He tried the knob and found that it opened easily.

            He stepped inside and the door swung shut behind him. He put his hand on the lightswitch to flip the fluorescent bulbs on, but felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a light voice whisper in his ear, "Don't." He turned, startled, and saw quite a vision. A familiar-looking girl, with dark red hair and dark green eyes, stood behind him. She wore a sparkly green evening gown (borrowed, of course, from Relic), which matched the dark green ribbon tied on her left arm. He tried desperately to think of her Clover Gang name, and finally remembered it. "Tunes?"

            Tunes smiled. "Hit it, Mush."

            Mush, who had been sitting on the teacher's desk, unnoticed, pushed play on a small tape player next to him. He then began belting out "I Swear," even though it wasn't on his usual song repertoire. He held a small flashlight, which he flicked on and beamed at a small disco ball that Relic had suspended from the ceiling.

            "May I have this dance?" Tunes asked.

            Snoddy felt all sleep leaving his thoughts, and gave a grin. "I'd love to dance with you." And the two twirled their way around and through the desks.

            When Mush finished his song, he burst into an a capella rendition of Elvis' "Love Me Tender," which Tunes figured was sweet and nice. When he launched "Candle In The Wind," however, she pushed him lovingly and tenderly out the door.

            He ran straight into Relic, who, of course, was doing her best to spy on the couple. "How are they doing?" she hissed.

            Mush, though still a little put out about being shoved out of the room, grinned. "I don't know how you do it, Rel, but this works like a charm."

            Tunes turned back to where Snoddy stood in the darkness, after she'd shoved Mush outside. "Thanks for dancing with me," she told him.

            "Who said we were gonna stop?" he answered, reaching out and grabbing her hand, and spinning her into his arms.

            "But there's no music."

            "Then I'll sing," Snoddy answered. He began to softly sing "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)," and Tunes was practically melting in his arms. Though he'd never particularly noticed Tunes before, he was quite flattered by all the imagination that had been put into this.

            Besides, he hadn't really been sleeping in French class.


	9. In the doghouse again

**Shoutouts!!!!! Wahooness!**

**Gypsy )( Thanks Gyps! And UPDATE Dogma ASAP! ASAP, ya hear me????? I wanna be a muse… and I *so* called Mushy/Blinky being Jay & Silent Bob! Wahoo for me.**

**misprint )( Yes, the story's corny… *(*HAIRSPRAY FLASH: "He's Corny!" during the song "Hairspray"*)* ::ahem:: Don't mind me… I figure I gotta have at least ONE corny/cheesy fic. Or else I will be portrayed as gloomy and glum-filled. Yes. I do the same thing, about typing things one week and the next having no idea what was meant. Yeah, I did that in my last review to you for… I forget what story, maybe Pure… I was reading my review today, and I like go back in time in it… like, "I'm getting my hair cut in two hours!" then in a few lines "I'm getting my hair cut in two hours and twenty-one minutes!" then "I'm getting my hair cut in two hours and thirty-nine minutes!" Apparently I cannot do math. This explains the trouble I'm experiencing in calculus right now. ^_^ LOL! What I did was I just looked at the clock and at 12:00 said two hours, then at 12:21 said "two hours and twenty-one minutes", then at 12:39 said the other one. Cuz I remember looking at the clock. I'm just retarded. WOW THAT WAS A LONG EXPLANATION AS TO WHY I'M RETARDED! I'll hush up now. Hahahaha for the "Snoddy eats chocolates, thinking Racetrack might be gay" HAHAHAHAHA Oh Mis you crack me up!**

**Frenchy )( Who DOESN'T have an obsession with Mush? ((All Jack, Spot, Race, Davey, and Blink fans raise their hands)) Ah, besides them WEIRDOS **everyone pelts Mondie with tomatoes** **Mondie doesn't care and hugs Mushy, who gets grossed out by the tomatoes staining his immaculate shirt and runs away** Dammit, I need to stop hugging him when people throw rotten veggies at me.**

**Merlin's Quill )( CALC SUCKS! I highly recommend to ANYONE reading this that they NEVER EVER EVER take calculus if they can at all avoid it. Sick. But thanks for the comments!! :D**

**Slick )( I know, it's such a shock every time I actually DO update, isn't it??? LOL! I try to update this, I really do, but it's just other stories get stuck in my head and what can I do but update them?? **Mondie looks sheepish** Thanks so much for everything, Slick, you're such a doll!!!!!**

**falco )( Why thank you! **blush** And as for me and Mush in Eclipse/Bloodflame… that is all Mis and Shade's doing. They're brilliant, though, aren't they?? Let's hope they update soon. I was sending Shade ideas on what Mush and I can get for each other for Christmas. Haha. They were funny. Haha. **Mondie laughs just THINKING about email** Ah, I make myself laugh.**

**Dragonfly )( Haha I love your random conversations with Bowler… aka Snitch… whatever. ^_^ Don't worry, Stress and Itey will get together eventually… eventually… I was gonna do it in this chapter, but I got sidetracked. Thanks for the comments Dfly!**

**Vix )( LOL, I get that comment a lot – "faster than last time". I really don't mean to abandon this ficcy! It just keeps happening… I love it tho! **Mondie huggles fic** Thanks for the comments Vix!**

**kimimay85 )( You're just gonna keep on holding out for that girl behind the locker, right?? HAHA CUTEST COUPLE! If we win I swear I'd never stop laughing. My mom got back pictures from homecoming and such and they're cute. :D I'll have to show you. We all actually look decent! It's a miracle! LOLOL. I still gotta read that story with the lyrics!!!! Hot chocolate is good… as long as you don't poke yourself in the eye with the spoon… ;) I still have to have the hot chocolate at work. Kyle always takes some home with him, it makes me giggle. I MUST HAVE CONAN AS MY PROM DATE! **Mondie nods emphatically** Yeah, poor Mushy Darling… but he always gets the good parts. It wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with him being my favey-davey character… nope… Don't you worry, Spot's back in this one! Oooh, and a mystery too!**

**Shade of Temair )( UPDATE ECLIPSE/BLOODFLAME! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!**

**rumor )( Thanks rumor dear!!!!!!!! I'd comment on all of your comments but I'm worried that my Internet is about to disconnect itself. Just know that I was laughing throughout your entire review and that it is muchly-mushly appreciated and that I heart Mush. That's about the entire comment list right there. With a few more I heart Mush's.**

**Drama-Queen )( Thanks! Guess who the next couple is! Go on, guess! Haha!**

**Raider )( Happy Halloween to you too… heh… Ooooh, you and Eldy are coming up. I just had to bump it back a chappy cuz I started writing weird stuff and it evolved into something else. Do NOT ask. This is gonna be a weird chapter…**

**Melika )( Mush *is* cute, isn't he?!?!?! **mondie swoons and huggles Mushy Darling** I always give him the good parts cuz I love him so much. Hehe. Thank you!!**

**ali )( I enjoy pointing out the obvious, too. And singing Mush was just TOO hard to resist. Just you wait til we get to HIS chapter. Just you wait. Hahahaha. **cackle cackle** Oh, the happy ending is coming up. Haha! We all see it coming, it's just a matter of time. Oooh, that Mush in a cheerleader outfit is kinda frightening… and oddly ominous of this chapter… **Mondie scratches head** ESP much? LOL. Thanks a lot!!!  
****Tunes )( LOL! Sneaky, sneaky Snodds. That's his job. LOL. Mush was so adorable, wasn't he?! **Mondie squeals and hugs Mushy Darling who is too cute for words even in story form** Aw… I wrote a depressing ficcy about him this afternoon… it made me sad. :( Look, I'm still sad. I just thought about that. I don't think I'll post it tonight, though.**

**Aki )( Yes, this story is all of the things I want realized in the forms of other characters… **sigh** I want a boy so bad!!!! LOL. **

**Twisted Angel )( Awesome isn't so bad of an adjective. It brings a blush to my face, anyhow. **Mondie covers face** Thank you!!!!**

**Rae Kelly )( Well, it wasn't exactly right then… but here's more now! LOL.**

**Braces )( No dying Braces; we haven't gotten to your chappy yet! LOLOL! Hahahaha I crack myself up. Thanks for the comments dearie!!!**

**Taffee )( Wowwwwwwwwwwwwww! Thanks! You get to appear in this chappy again… you're still happy with Swifts! LOL. Perhaps it's a good thing I'm not mentioning you a lot, that might mean you were having relationship problems. We don't want THAT! Thank you again!  
****The Omniscient Bookseller )( Thanks, yeah, we're okay. He was wearing his seatbelt, so he's fine. :D Thanks for checking!! :D :D :D Keep poking Itey, he needs to get it through his brain. And he doesn't this chappy. But it's not big deal that he doesn't, either. It's all gonna come through soon… soon… soon… **echo off****

**Emu )( Happy boithday to you, happy boithday to you, happy boithday deah EMUUUUUUUUUUUU… happy boithday to you! MUSH IS AWESOME! I AGREE WHOLE-HEARTEDLY! **Mondie squeals and hugs Mushy Darling****

**Katy )( Thanks!! I hurried… kinda…**

**jsgirl2005 )( I wanna start a Clover Gang too. Perhaps I should make a Clover Gang website and everyone, whether in this story or not, can be in it. That would make me happy. But it would also take more time. HAHAHA! Yeah I know, think I can make a catalogue with ready-to-order Crimson Gangs? Think the boys from the movie will be up to it? Of course, all the Crimson Gangs will be missing Mushs… cuz I'm taking all of him for me!!! LOLOL!**

**Hades )( Haha your review cracked me up! Particularly the pointing frantically part. Hahaha! You're awesome Hades! Thanks for the review!**

**bittersweet )( I MISS YOU TOO SARAH! And if you want to be in this story, I can write you in. No problemo, man.**

**Lindi )( Thank you thank you thank you! You're a sweetie. And I heart Mush.**

I think I have hearted and huggled Mushy more times in that listing of shoutouts then was previously thought possible. Haha!

**Y'all are gonna kill me for where I left this chappy off… no, you're not supposed to know what's back there… you'll understand what I mean when you read it. And no offense is meant to cheerleaders by this story. I'm friends with some cheerleaders; my cousins are cheerleaders. It's just the cheerleaders at this particular school are annoying. I'm not saying all are, all righty? :D Wahoo. Let's begin the reading, shall we?**

**Untouchables**

**Chapter 9**

            When Taffee and Swifty pulled into the parking lot one brisk autumn day after weeks with no occurrences, it was obvious the skirmish was far from over. Spot Conlon, who had been attending school sporadically at best the past few weeks, had parked his car in its rightful place, but was nowhere in sight. Likewise, Relic's car had been parked parallel to it, but she also couldn't be seen. As Taffee and Swifty climbed off Swifty's motorcycle, they knew that this couldn't be good news. Spot Conlon being early was enough cause for concern; a missing Spot along with a missing Relic was FBI-worthy.

            Taffee sighed in relief when she caught sight of Relic's bouncing hair ahead. "Good, at least she isn't insinuating anything with Spot," she smiled, grabbing Swifty's hand and pulling him along.

            Spot, in fact, didn't turn up all day, yet his car stood, unguarded, in the parking lot. This seemed to upset Relic even more than the members of the Crimson Gang, who were understandably worried about their egotistical leader.

            At lunchtime, the two gangs sat together on the Quad. This was permissible on the days when Spot was absent; when he was present, the two groups hardly even interacted. The days that were Spotless were the party days.

            Since Relic had held off with her pairings, the Crimson Gang was starting to lose its suspicion. Perhaps they didn't think the rest of the Clover Gang were interested, or they might have thought that the whole Itey-Stress situation had made the girls back off. Whatever the case, the boys were blissfully unaware that Relic's mind was continuously revolving around her darling of a group and the potential couples. She couldn't wait to hit the next guy off-guard.

            But today wasn't that day.

            By lunchtime, rumors about Spot were flying everywhere. Since his car was so hard to miss, everyone in the school had seen it, and yet no one had caught sight of the short, angry boy who drove it. Girls, whispering behind their hands, decided he had killed himself in a janitor's closet by mixing bleach and ammonia and smelling it, while boys tried to declare that they had fought him and won and that he was lying in a ditch somewhere, immobile. Nobody really believed the rumors they created… except Relic.

            She ran through the school, checking every janitor's closet, and then, not having produced Spot's body, drove through town searching ditches instead of going to her third period class.

            At lunchtime, she was forlornly looking about, when she realized she was ravenous. Having spent all of her own money on gas to search ditches, she began flitting from person to person, taking bites of their lunches. When she got to Pie Eater, she grinned at him. The football hero had a tray so full of food it was falling off the edges. There was a big game that weekend, she remembered, and he was trying to bulk up. She sat next to him primly. He gave her an odd look but continued eating; he wasn't one much for words. When he looked at his friends in other directions, she would snitch food off his plate and smile innocently when he looked for the missing delicacy.

            Having had her fill finally, she got up and walked over to Squibble. "This weekend's when we make our move," she murmured. "Meet me after sixth period to discuss your obtaining Pie Eater." Then, not feeling nearly as guilty about eating his food, she sauntered casually away.

            It was French class, and two girls were missing.

            In fact, many girls were missing from the school.

            No one had particularly noticed the absences, because they weren't a group of friends or anything. But Relic, grabbing the absent list that the office handed out to the after-lunch teachers as she took attendance for Mme Durouge, noticed the strange amount of unexcused absences. And, oddly enough, there was Spot's name atop the list. Well, she countered herself giddily, his real name. Gabe Conlon.

            The thing that made Relic think was that the two girls missing were the two who hadn't joined the Clover Gang, Jaclyn and Danielle. She thought it odd they would be the two missing from their class. And unexcused? Both girls had perfect records so far.

            Squibble felt uneasy when she looked into Relic's excited face. "What are you gonna make me do?" she asked, sounding as nervous as she felt. Relic had a certain gleam in her eye which frightened Squibble beyond what was thought possible.

            Relic reflected that many of the girls were starting to get the same panicked look on their faces when she was about to tell them her plan. It was a bit unnerving.

            She shrugged it off.

            "What's Pie Eater doing this weekend?" she asked, tilting her head innocently.

            Wondering if it was a bit of a trick question, Squibble shrugged. "Playing in the football game."

            "Exactly." Relic's grin grew a bit ridiculous. "And who is the most important members on that field to the football players, besides the other players?"

            "Uh… the band?" Squibble said, not following.

            "No!" Relic nearly shouted. "The cheerleaders!"

            Squibble looked at her in disbelief. "Oh, no. No, Relic. I can't be a cheerleader!"

            Relic laughed. "Of course you can!" she said. "It's not that hard."

            "There aren't any openings on the squad," Squibble tried.

            Relic only laughed harder. "After what I did last period, there is."

            "Oh, no," Squibble said, looking distraught. "What did you do?"

            Relic nearly cackled as she hugged herself. "I overheard Sammi telling Traci in the bathroom that she thought she was pregnant. I just _happened to have a trick pregnancy test in my backpack—" Squibble gave a little sound of amusement and Relic tried to look innocent. "Well, I did! Anyhow, I acted all sympathetic to Sammi and said that I was going to give it to my aunt after school, but that this was more important than my family. So Sammi took the test, and of course it says she's pregnant (even though she probably isn't)… she was in hysterics when I left, and I made it my personal duty to inform Carli, the head cheerleader, of the situation. I said that you were a cheerleader last year in your school in Quebec—" Squibble gave a downright snort of laughter this time. Relic continued, "and she, like, totally, y'know, believed me!" She began tossing her hair as she impersonated Carli. " 'Oh, my, like, God! Do you, like, think that she'd, like, __totally be up for, like, cheering with us from, like, now on?'" Relic grinned. "I told her you'd only be too happy to. So now, all we've gotta do is make you a cheerleader!"_

            Squibble shook her head. "How the hell does everything turn out the exact way you want it to?" she asked, sounding amazed.

            Relic shrugged, then turned and flounced off for her next class, since the bell had rung five minutes before. As soon as she turned the corner away from Squibble, her bubbly expression was wiped off her face. 'I can't get everything the way I want,' she thought to herself, sighing as she imagined a certain other gang leader she couldn't get off her mind. It was a rare moment of reflection, but her smile was back in place when she entered her classroom.

            Because it was only a matter of time.

            After school, Relic headed with some of the Clover Gang out to the parking lot. The girls were gossiping and joking and having a grand time, when suddenly Relic stopped them by putting out her hands. Everyone grew quiet as they looked in front of them.

            "Relic. Come here."

            It was Spot. He wore a grimace that set new records of temper, even for himself, and looked incredibly mad. Relic swallowed hastily, astounded that he hadn't called her "girl" or "leader of that stupid gang." She stepped forward.

            "There's somethin' you gotta see," he growled. "C'mon." He set off for the trees that lined the parking lot. Relic looked back at her friends, who were grinning like idiots, and suppressed a squeal of happiness. It was school legend, what went on in the trees. No one invited anyone over to that area unless the impression of heavy making out was implied. Relic nearly skipped as she followed him.

            She fell silent as she stared at what Spot had led her to. "All of them, Spot? You're a real pig!" There was nothing but admiration in her voice.

            "Yeah, well, what else was I supposed to do?" he scowled. "Now, oh leader of that stupid gang, what are we gonna do now?" His tone was rich with sarcasm as he suddenly turned to her and glowered. "This is all your fault."

            She sighed. In the doghouse again.


End file.
